WEDNESDAY UPDATES: Truman VA vaccinates 10,000th veteran against COVID-19

The Truman VA vaccinated their 10,000 veteran Wednesday against COVID-19.

Officails say Laureen Crews and her husband Jonathan Crews, also a U.S. Army Veteran, were the 10,000 and 10,001 Veteran to be vaccinated.

Since implementing a dedicated COVID vaccine clinic in December 2020, Truman VA has administered almost 20,000 first and second doses of vaccine to eligible Veterans and staff.

“Each year we care for almost 40,000 Veterans,” said Patricia Hall, PhD, FACHE, Medical Center Director of Truman VA. “That means as of today, we’ve vaccinated more than 25 percent of the Veterans we care for. Right now, we’re administering more than 2,000 vaccine doses per week. I’m very proud to lead such a dedicated group whose mission is to expedite the vaccination of our Veterans.”

Audrain County releases Thursday's traffic flow plan for 2nd dose vaccination in Mexico

Audrain County released a traffic flow plan for the 2nd Dose Mass Vaccination Clinic Thursday at the Mexico Area Family YMCA has been released.

Those eligible to receive the second dose of the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine are asked to show up at the Mexico YMCA at a prescribed time according to their last name.

Participants are asked to enter Adams Street using Morris Street from either Boulevard Street or Lakeview Street. At the intersection of Adams and Fairground Street, attendees will be asked for their CDC card given to them at the first vaccine event at the Mexico Memorial Airport on January 29th, at the Audrain County Health Department (ACHD) the evening of January 29th or the February 2nd mini-clinic at Presser Arts Center in Mexico.

When participants are allowed entry to the YMCA parking lot at their prescribed time, they will be given a consent form to fill out upon their arrival, if they do not have one already filled out.

Adams Street will be restricted to westbound traffic only and Fairground Street south of Adams Street to Lakeview will be southbound only.

Participants will only be allowed access to parking lots at their designated arrival time.

• 8:00 a.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with A
• 8:30 a.m. arrival – Those with the last names beginning with B
• 9:00 a.m. arrival – Those with the last names beginning with C
• 9:30 a.m. arrival – Those with the last names beginning with D
• 10:00 a.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with E through F
• 10:30 a.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with G
• 11:00 a.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with H through I
• 11:30 a.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with J through K
• 12:00 p.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with L through M
• 12:30 p.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with N through O
• 1:00 p.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with P through Q
• 1:30 p.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with R through S
• 2:00 p.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with T
• 2:30 p.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with U through V
• 3:00 p.m. arrival – Those with last names beginning with W through Z

“We acknowledge the heavy traffic flow around the YMCA will be an inconvenience to individuals working or living in this area. Audrain County Health Department (ACHD) would like to thank these individuals and residents in advance for their cooperation and patience,” states Craig Brace, ACHD, Administrator and CEO.

Boone County reports 76th COVID-19 related death; 33 new cases

Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting one new COVID-19 related death. The individual was in the 80+ age group. The reported death was the 76th since March 18, 2020.

This is the seventh coronavirus related death this month and 18th death this year.

The county is reporting 33 new COVID-19 cases.

The health department is currently reporting 168 active cases, a 17 new case increase from Tuesday.

The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 17,383.

The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 17,139, a 15 case increase from Tuesday.

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 17.4 for the week of Feb. 12 through last Thursday.

The county continues to trend down as there have been 28 straight days of only double-digit case increases. It is also the 19th day in a row of new cases under 50.

The health department is reporting the total number of hospitalizations in Boone County is 29.

The number of Boone County residents hospitalized is reported to be 8.

The dashboard is reporting 12 COVID-19 patients in the ICU and 6 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 State of Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 25,415 residents have received their first dose in Boone County.

The county has the fourth-largest percentage of people that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 14.1%.

Saline County has the largest with 17% of the population have received the first dose of the vaccine. Montgomery County is second with 15.6% and Cole County is third with 14.7%.

Tech malfunction delays report of statewide coronavirus vaccinations

A Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman said a tech malfunction delayed Wednesday's report of statewide coronavirus vaccinations.

Early Wednesday morning, the state's coronavirus dashboard reported 700,519 Missourians have received at least one dose of vaccine. The report was 8,000 fewer from Tuesday's update and about 300 fewer from the number reported on Monday.

Lisa Cox with the health department said the dashboard was updated in error because a file was too large. Cox said data analysts have since corrected the issue.

From the most recent data available, 726,367 Missourians have received at least one dose of a vaccine. The group represents nearly 12% of the state's population.

The dashboard included 358,161 state residents, about 5.8% of Missouri's population, have received two doses of vaccine.

Health officials say total vaccine doses administered were up to 1,084,528.

State officials reported 560 more COVID-19 cases on the dashboard bringing the pandemic total up to 476,351. Nine more virus-related deaths were added to the dashboard -- the total was up to 7,894 on Wednesday.

Missouri's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate was reported at 6.2% a decrease of 0.1.

Hospital officials reported 1,182 people were hospitalized and 244 were in ICU beds because of COVID-19. Hospitalizations and ICU stays have been on the decline for weeks.