The cold weather is forcing cancellations at some mass vaccination clinics.

Organizers postponed the Lake Regional Vaccination clinic that was set for Sunday in Osage Beach.

More details about when that clinic will be rescheduled will be released tomorrow.

And just north of Mid-Missouri, health leaders in Kirksville have also canceled their vaccination clinic for tomorrow.

Missouri adds recently retired healthcare providers to administer coronavirus vaccine

Retired healthcare providers have now been added to the list of those authorized to administer the two currently approved COVID-19 vaccines.

Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director, Dr. Randall Williams, issued an amended standing orders detailing who in Missouri is authorized to administer the vaccines following a move by federal partners to increase the available workforce.

Missouri’s revised standing orders will allow any individual, with the exception of medical students and intern pharmacists, who would have had authority to vaccinate under the standing order within the last five years to be allowed to do so.

The order will also allow healthcare providers who are licensed in another state to administer COVID-19 vaccines in Missouri.

“We value our all-hands-on-deck approach as we continue implementing our vaccine plan, and partnerships will become especially vital as vaccines become more widely available in the future,” said Williams. “We have been listening to feedback from our colleagues from throughout the state, and we are so grateful to those recently retired healthcare workers who are willing to help their fellow Missourians as we anticipate the arrival of more vaccines as they become approved for use.”

Over 100 retail pharmacies across Missouri to help administer coronavirus vaccine

Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services reports 102 retail pharmacies are joining other organizations to administer the coronavirus vaccine to Missourians.

“We welcome the opportunity to work with our federal partners and provide an additional avenue for Missourians to receive a COVID-19 vaccine,” Governor Mike Parson said. “This partnership will be a great help in expanding vaccine access and getting more doses into arms as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Eighty-one Walmart and Sam’s Club Pharmacy locations will begin receiving vaccines from a federal allocation (not out of the state’s weekly allocation), and vaccinations will begin Friday, February 8 at participating locations in Missouri.

Participating locations include:

• Walmart at 3001 west Broadway in Columbia
• Walmart at 415 Conley Road in Columbia
• Sam's Club at 101 Conley Road in Columbia
• Walmart at 1201 Grindstone Parkway in Columbia
• Walmart in Eldon
• Walmart at 724 Stadium West Boulevard in Jefferson City
• Walmart in Marshall
• Walmart in Mexico
• Walmart in Moberly
• Walmart in Rolla
• Walmart in Sedalia and
• Walmart in Versailles.

“We are grateful to soon begin seeing these additional doses from our federal partners available to Missourians,” said Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). “In conversations with the White House and our federal partners, these pharmacies were selected by them in the designated areas because of their accessibility for many Missouri communities and the trust pharmacies have built with their patients.”

The 102 retail pharmacies will receive a total of more than 18,000 doses per week.

Boone County reports 72nd COVID-19 related death; total cases moves above 17,000

Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting the 72nd COVID-19 related death.

This is the second death this month and 13 this year. The individual was in the 75-79 age group.

The county is reporting 27 new COVID-19 cases.

The dashboard is currently reporting 304 active cases, a 55 case decrease from Monday.

The county continues to trend down as there has now been 13 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 17,008.

The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 16,632.

Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services dashboard has reported the latest five-day average as 38. This is the lowest the five-day average has been since Oct. 20.

The dashboard is reporting the positivity rate of 24.5% positivity rate for Jan. 29 through last Thursday.

The health department is reporting the total number of hospitalizations in Boone County is 51.

The number of Boone County residents hospitalized is reported to be 22.

The dashboard is reporting 27COVID-19 patients in the ICU and 12 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 21,833 have received their first dose.

The county has the third-largest percentage of people that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 12.1%. Cole County has the largest with 12.6% of the population have received the first dose of the vaccine. Montgomery County is second with 12.3%.

St. Louis County says state not providing promised vaccines

St. Louis County health officials say some coronavirus vaccinations might be delayed because the state is not providing promised doses of the vaccine, The Associated Press reported.

County officials said the state promised early last week to send 3,900 doses to the county this week. But by Friday, the state was saying the county would not get any vaccine doses this week.

It's the third week in a row St. Louis County has not received any direct shipments of the vaccine. The county has been using vaccine doses it received in a redistribution from a local hospital.

County Executive Sam Page says at-risk groups, such as the uninsured, will be hurt most by the lack of vaccine.

MU Health Care lifts some visitor restrictions

University of Missouri Health Care announced Tuesday that some visitor restrictions will soon be lifted at its hospital facilities.

Health system officials said a decrease in area COVID-19 cases allowed the hospitals to lift some visitor restrictions.

Starting Wednesday, University Hospital, the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute and the Missouri Psychiatric Center will allow patients to have visitors. Patients at the hospitals, emergency units and clinics will be allowed one visitor.

A release from MU Health Care said to be allowed inside the facilities, visitors need to undergo a temperature and symptom screening. Visitors are also required to wear a face mask and must be older than 16.

Visiting hours at University Hospital and the orthopedic institute will be held from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. The visiting hours at the psychiatric center will be held from 4 - 8 p.m.

Pediatric and labor and delivery patients will continue to be allowed two visitors at a time.

State positivity rate falls below 8%

Missouri's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate fell below 8% on Tuesday.

The state health department's coronavirus dashboard said the rate was down to 7.7%. It's a decrease of 0.3 from the day before.

According to the dashboard, the last time the rate was reported at 7.7 was on July 17, 2020.

Health department officials said 467,313 people in Missouri have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic started. The dashboard said cases increased 649 in the last 24 hours.

The dashboard included that 6 more people have died from the coronavirus -- the health department has reported 7,149 virus-related deaths since the pandemic started.

Missouri ranked 18th in the country for coronavirus deaths reported in the last week -- 16. The state was also 27th for COVID-19 cases reported over the same period 6,167.

The coronavirus vaccination dashboard said 716,038 vaccine doses have been administered in Missouri. It said 546,484 Missourians have received at least one dose of the vaccine -- about 8.9% of the state population.