WATCH: Missouri governor says 66,000 residents have received initial dose of coronavirus vaccine
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Missouri's governor said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon that 66,000 residents have received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
A state partnership with Walgreen's and CVS pharmacies to vaccinate long-term care facility workers and residents started on Monday. Jefferson City Manor Care is among the nursing homes that are receiving the vaccine.
Gov. Mike Parson included Missouri has received more than 300,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine - a combination of the vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna.
The governor added the state will receive about 73,000 more doses next week - it coincides with many residents receiving their second shot of Pfizer's vaccine.
Watch the whole briefing in the player below.
Unrelated to the coronavirus vaccine, Parson announced $64 million in funding for child care facilities. He said the funding will go towards child care facilities to meet the needs of Missouri working families and those with low incomes. The money is being made available in various granting opportunities.
Missouri hospitalizations increase but remain stable
The governor and the state health department director both said during the news conference that virus-related hospitalizations have increased somewhat recently but continue remain stable.
According to the health department's COVID-19 dashboard, hospitalizations have remained near the 2,500 mark since mid-November. The most recent data available on Wednesday said 2,540 were in the hospitalized because of the coronavirus.
Parson and Dr. Randall Williams both said COVID-19 mitigation efforts like social distancing, wearing a face mask and hand washing are still important as the vaccination plan continues to rollout. Williams asked Missouri to not "Drop your guard."
The governor said six state hospitals have joined in a partnership with Vizient to bring on more health care workers in an effort to increase hospital bed capacity. As of Monday, 84 Vizient workers haved reported for duty with 196 expected to be working by next week, Parson said.
U.K. COVID-19 variant can be spotted by Missouri testing lab
Williams said at the briefing Missouri's testing lab can spot a COVID-19 variant that was first spotted in the UK.
At least one person in Colorado has tested positive for the variant, health officials said this week.
The health department director said PCR tests sent to the state lab can pick up a signal given off by the variant. He said the state is looking to build this out in the near future.
Williams included the UK variant appears to be more infectious. He also said there isn't enough data as of yet to say if current coronavirus vaccines will cover the variant.
