MONDAY UPDATES: Local health organizations coordinating coronavirus vaccine efforts

Three local health organizations have begun coordinating vaccine efforts.

MU Health Care, Boone Health and Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services (PHHS) are coordinating coronavirus vaccine efforts for residents.

• MU Health Care is expected to receive 4,000 doses of Moderna vaccine and will host vaccination events Friday and Sunday at the Faurot Field vaccination site. Invitations are currently being sent out for this event.
• Boone Health is expecting an allotment of vaccine that it will begin providing on Wednesday at a vaccination event in the Columbia Mall. Invitations are being emailed currently.
• Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services is scheduled to receive 200 doses and will be sending appointment invitations early this week.

The three organizations have also combined surveys to create a unified, streamlined process.

Anyone who would like to get the COVID-19 vaccine should sign up at muhealth.org/covid19-vaccine-survey.

Boone County reports lowest number of active cases since July 27

Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 7 new COVID-19 cases.

The dashboard is currently reporting 174 active cases.

The county continues to trend down as there has now been 19 straight days of only double-digit case increases. This is the longest number of days of only double-digit increases since Oct. 13.

The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 17,144.

The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 16,897.

Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services dashboard has reported the latest five-day average as 22.

The dashboard is reporting the positivity rate of 16% positivity rate for Feb. 5 through last Thursday.

The health department is reporting the total number of hospitalizations in Boone County is 42.

The number of Boone County residents hospitalized is reported to be 14.

The dashboard is reporting 12 COVID-19 patients in the ICU and 8 patients on ventilators.

The hospital status is currently in 'Green' status. 'Green' status is when hospitals are operating within licensed bed capacity; accepting patient transfers from referring hospitals within standard care operating procedures.

The dashboard also reports that 22,489 have received their first dose.

The county has the fourth-largest percentage of people that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 12.8%.

Saline County has the largest with 15.2% of the population have received the first dose of the vaccine. Montgomery County is second with 14.8% and Cole County is third with 13.7%.

Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services create a process for homebound residents to get coronavirus vaccine

Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services has created a process to be able to homebound residents the coronavirus vaccine.

Boone County residents who are homebound and in Phase 1B, Tier 2, which includes those 65 and older and adults with certain medical conditions, can call 573.874.CITY (2489) to state their interest in getting the COVID-19 vaccine and share contact information.

If an individual who is homebound has filled out the PHHS or MU Health Care survey for information, they should still call to be put on the home vaccination list.

Boone County reports 18 new coronavirus cases over weekend

Boone County recorded just 18 new coronavirus infections over the weekend as weather helped keep test numbers down.

The county health department reported the weekend numbers Monday. The county recorded five new coronavirus cases Saturday and another 13 on Sunday. The county reported on its coronavirus hub that 129 tests were performed on Boone County residents Friday but just 24 on Saturday as cold shut down testing sites.

The county's rate of positive tests continued to decline last week, according to numbers release Monday. The rate fell to 16% for the week that ended Thursday, which is down eight percentage points from the week before.

Boone County's coronavirus case rates are falling after a fall and winter surge that pushed them to levels not seen before. The five-day average of new cases fell Monday to its lowest level since August.

The county reported 223 active coronavirus cases Monday. Hospitals reported "green" status, meaning they're mostly operating as normal.

The improving numbers led the county's health director last week to issue a modified coronavirus order allowing restaurants that serve alcohol and bars to stay open later.

Extreme cold closes MU Health Care coronavirus testing site

University of Missouri officials say dangerously cold temperatures have closed a coronavirus testing site.

MU Health Care announced Monday the testing site at the Mizzou North building would be closed through Tuesday. Officials had already closed the site on Monday ahead of the winter weather.

A release from MU Health Care said COVID-19 testing will begin again on Wednesday. The site will be open from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Normal facility hours start back up on Thursday.

Residents who need to get a test before Wednesday can go to Mizzou Urgent Care and Mizzou Quick Care locations.

Boone Hospital Center also closed its testing site for sub-freezing temperatures. Testing at the site has been canceled for the entire week. If patients need a test, officials said they can go the hospital's lab draw locations.

10% of Missourians receive first dose of coronavirus vaccine

Missouri state health officials say a little more than 10% of the state's residents have received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard said 10.3% or 634,393 in the Show-Me State have received an initial shot of vaccine. Another 239,293 have received two doses of vaccine.

In all, 873,686 doses of vaccine have been administered.

As of Monday, only the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been federally approved in the US. Both are two-dose vaccines.

Health officials continue to hold mass-vaccination clinics around the state. Events scheduled in Osage Beach and Kirksville were postponed this past weekend because of the dangerously cold temperatures. The dashboard said 151,243 vaccine doses were administered in the week ending on Friday.

The health department said COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started are up to 471,662. It's an increase of 421 from Sunday.

Virus-related deaths were unchanged on Monday staying at 7,455.

Missouri's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate was reported at 6.7% on Monday.