MONDAY UPDATES: MU Health Care announces 6,200 doses coming this weekend
MU Health Care announced on social media the organization will receive 6,200 doses of vaccine for an upcoming mass vaccination event.
The organization says the event is from Thursday through Sunday at the Faurot Field vaccination site.
Officials say invitations will be sent out today and tomorrow. If you are on the survey and in one of the eligible tiers, please check your email.
Gov. Parson: Coronavirus vaccine allocations announces for high throughput health centers for first half of March
Gov. Mike Parson says High Throughput Health Centers will receive coronavirus vaccines across the state including 4,000 doses for MU Health Care, 2,000 doses for both Capital Region Medical Center and SSM St. Mary's Hospital in Jefferson City in the first two weeks of March.
“Our partnership with high throughput health centers across the state has been an important piece in ensuring vaccines are administered equitably and efficiently to Missourians in every region,” said Governor Parson. “These health care centers have established connections with their local communities and high risk Missourians throughout the region and have the proven capacity to get thousands of vaccines into arms each week.”
The state uses HTHCs and five other provider categories to distribute Missouri’s allotment of vaccines from the federal government to each region.
Due to increases in vaccine supply, the state's model has been modified. Current categories include the following:
- High Throughput Health Centers: 41 percent
- Mass Vaccination Events: 22 percent
- Local Public Health Agencies: 7 percent
- Federally Qualified Health Centers: 8 percent
- Community/Enrolled Providers: 7 percent
- Vaccine Desert Mitigation: 15 percent
Some regions may rely more heavily on certain distribution categories than others, but once finalized, each region receives a percentage of the state’s total vaccine allocation that is approximate to its population.
“Due to health care infrastructure, distribution methods may vary from one region to the next, but there is no division between rural and urban Missouri,” said Governor Parson. “Individuals willing to do their homework will learn that each region, whether it be urban or rural, is receiving a percentage of our state’s total vaccine allocation that matches their region’s population size.”
Boone County reports active cases under triple digits for first time since June 29th
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting nine new COVID-19 cases.
The health department is currently reporting 92 active cases.
The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 17,446.
The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 17,275.
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services dashboard has reported the latest five-day average as 13.
The dashboard is reporting the positivity rate of 17.5 for the week of Feb. 12 through Feb. 18. The latest positivity rate is 11.9% for the week of Feb. 19 through last Thursday.
The county continues to trend down as there have been 33 straight days of only double-digit case increases. It is also the 24th day in a row of new cases under 50.
The health department is reporting the total number of hospitalizations in Boone County is 22.
The number of Boone County residents hospitalized is reported to be 7.
The dashboard is reporting eight COVID-19 patients in the ICU and four patients on ventilators.
The hospital status remains 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 32,058 residents have received their first dose in Boone County.
The county has the second-largest percentage of people that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 17.8%.
Saline County has the largest with 18.3% of the population have received the first dose of the vaccine. Howard County is third with 17.4% and Cole County is fourth with 16.7%.
Boone County reports 17 coronavirus cases over weekend
Boone County reported just 17 new coronavirus cases over the weekend as the number of tests and the county's positivity rate keep dropping.
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services reported one new case Saturday and 16 on Sunday. The department also reported a continued drop in the positivity rate -- a measure of what percentage of people test positive for coronavirus over a week.
The positivity rate for the week that ended Thursday was 11.9%, the lowest rate since August. The rate peaked at more than 36% in November and again in December.
Testing has declined at the same time, with both MU Health Care and Boone Hospital Center starting to limit their drive-thru testing hours because of decreased demand. Nearly 750 people in Boone County were tested in the week that ended Saturday. The county tested 742 people on Nov. 23 alone.
Active cases in Boone County have dropped to 139, with just eight Boone County residents hospitalized with COVID-19. Hospitals in the county are treating 23 patients total with COVID-19.
The five-day average of new daily cases in Boone County had dropped to 17 from a peak of 169 in late November. The rate of new cases in the Columbia Public Schools district over the past 14 days has fallen to 17.1. That rate topped 111 in late November.
17% of Boone Countians have received at least one dose of vaccine
The Columbia/Boone County health department director said county residents continue to be vaccinated and officials are working on the next pandemic health order.
During a conference call with Boone County leaders Monday morning, health department director Stephanie Browning said 17.8% of county residents have received at least one dose of vaccine. Browning said about 32,000 county residents have received at least one dose and more than 16,000 have had two doses.
State health officials reported Monday morning, 13.8% of state residents have received at least one dose of vaccine.
The health department director said the federally approved Johnson and Johnson vaccine will help speed up coronavirus vaccinations. Browning included there are many county residents in lower vaccination tiers who still haven't been vaccinated.
Health officials are working on loosening some pandemic restrictions in the next county health order. The current order, which was extended in February, is set to end on Thursday.
The health department allowed restaurants, bars and other businesses to stay open until midnight in the most recent order. Browning said during the meeting restrictions are expected to loosen slightly, however, she did not say in what way.
Browning included mask-wearing and social distancing will still be part of the upcoming order.
Missouri's COVID-19 positivity rate continues fall
For about two months, Missouri's COVID-19 positivity rate has fallen from 20% at the beginning of the year to lower than 5% on Monday.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services coronavirus dashboard said the seven-day positivity rate was reported at 4.8% in the latest data available.
Daily coronavirus case reports and COVID-19 testing have also fallen over the same time period. On Monday, health officials reported 192 new cases bringing the pandemic total up to 478,416. Health officials reported 1,000 new cases on New Year's Day and more than 2,000 on the following day.
The dashboard said nearly 57,000 COVID-19 tests were administered over the week of Feb. 21. Health department data said testing over the week of Jan. 3 was reported at more than 127,000.
Health officials did not report any new COVID-19 deaths on Monday -- 7,919 state residents have died from the virus since the pandemic started, according to the dashboard.
The dashboard said 1.28 million total vaccine doses have been administered across the state. Officials said 13.8% of Missourians have received at least one dose of a vaccine.
Vaccinations could soon increase after the Johnson and Johnson single-dose vaccine received federal approval over the weekend.
