WEDNESDAY UPDATES: Truman VA to vaccinate veterans at five off-site locations Friday

Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital is hosting a one-day COVID-19 vaccine clinic in five cities Friday.

The mobile clinic will make brief stops where staff will administer the single-dose Johnson & Johnson Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine.

Any veteran can get vaccinated at the following times and locations Friday:

• 9 to 10 a.m.: Centralia City Hall, 114 South Rollins, Centralia
• 11 a.m. to Noon: First Assembly of God, 120 W. Outer Rd, Moberly
• 1 to 1:30 p.m.: Paris City Building, 112 South Main, Paris
• 2:15 to 2:45 p.m.: Monroe City United Methodist Church, 218 Catherine St., Monroe City
• 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.: American Legion Post 55, 3819 Highway MM, Hannibal

To guarantee a vaccination, eligible Veterans may call (573) 814-6260 to schedule an appointment. However, appointments are not required.

Boone County nearing 100 active COVID-19 cases

Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 14 new COVID-19 cases and 94 active cases.

The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 17,616.

The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 17,440.

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 10% for the week of Feb. 26 through last Thursday.

The county continues to trend down as there have been 42 straight days of single or double-digit case increases.

The health department is reporting the total number of hospitalizations in Boone County is 20.

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

The dashboard is reporting seven COVID-19 patients in the ICU and three 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 38,728 residents have received their first dose in Boone County.

The county has the largest percentage of people in Mid-Missouri that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 21.8%.

Howard County has the second largest with 19.7% of the population have received the first dose of the vaccine. Cole County is third largest with 19.5% and Saline County is fourth with 19.2%.

Boone Hospital Center announces closure of drive-thru testing site

As of Wednesday, multiple hospitals have announced closing drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites, now Boone Hospital Center is the latest.

A release from hospital spokesman Benjamin Cornelius said the testing site will close after Friday.

Cornelius said a decrease in testing caused the closure of the site. Multiple Mid-Missouri hospitals have made announcements recently, including SSM St. Mary's in Jefferson City earlier Wednesday morning.

Hospital patients who need a COVID-19 test can visit the hospital's lab-draw locations, the release said.

Health officials in Boone County have reported 17,602 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic started.

The Columbia/Boone County health department coronavirus dashboard said daily tests in the county have fallen since January. The most recent dashboard update said 18 people had been tested on Monday, down from 98 at the same time two months ago.

St. Mary's closing coronavirus drive-thru testing site

SSM St. Mary's Hospital in Jefferson City will close its drive-thru coronavirus testing site this weekend.

The site's final day in operation will be Friday, the hospital said, citing lower demand for testing as coronavirus case rates decrease. The Cole County Health Department has reported 26 coronavirus cases outside long-term care facilities since the start of March.

The county has reported nearly 8,000 cases since the pandemic began along with 117 deaths, with nearly half of them in long-term care. Cole County has one of the highest case rates for the entire pandemic, with its 11,225 cases per 100,000 people coming in at fourth among counties, according to state numbers.

Cole County is 19th for the percentage of its population receiving at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine at about 19.5%.

The hospital encourages anyone who needs a test to contact their doctor.

Missouri initial vaccinations nearing 20%

As of Wednesday morning, nearly one in five Missourians had initiated coronavirus vaccination.

The state health department's coronavirus dashboard said 1.05 million state residents, 17.2% of Missouri's population, have received at least one dose of a two-shot vaccine or have received the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine.

State health officials said on the dashboard that more than 1.6 million total doses have been administered and that 565,000 residents have completed the vaccination process.

Missouri has increased vaccinations since vaccines became available. The latest data available said the state was averaging more than 32,000 vaccinations a day, up from an average of 8,681 at the end of 2020.

Over the last three months, more Missourians have become vaccine-eligible and the state has held more mass vaccination clinics. At least a dozen vaccination events were being held around Missouri on Wednesday or in the coming days, according to the state's vaccine information website.

On Monday, more than 500,000 people will become vaccine-eligible. Phase 1B Tier 3 includes teachers and school staff, line workers and other jobs which are considered critical infrastructure.

As of Tuesday, the Columbia Public Schools coronavirus website said more than 35% of district staff members have been vaccinated. It's a more than 10% increase in vaccinations from the day before.

The state health department reported 449 new COVID-19 cases through PCR testing and 2 more virus-related deaths on Wednesday. Officials have confirmed 481,694 coronavirus-positive cases through PCR tests and 8,297 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic started.

Missouri's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate was unchanged from the day before staying low at 4.3%.

State hospital officials said on the dashboard 863 were hospitalized and 177 were in ICUs because of COVID-19. The rates have both fallen since the end of last year.

The latest data available on virus-related hospitalizations and ICU stays was near the lowest levels reported since the numbers started being included on the dashboard in July.