THURSDAY UPDATES: Boone County active cases rise above the triple-digit mark
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 21 new COVID-19 cases. There are currently 106 active cases in the county, a 19 case increase from Wednesday.
The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 17,749.
The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 17,560.
Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services dashboard has reported the latest five-day average as 17.
The dashboard is reporting the positivity rate of 11% for the week of March 4 through last Thursday.
The county continues to trend down as there have been 49 straight days of single or double-digit case increases.
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 four.
The dashboard is reporting nine 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 44,653 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 24.7%.
Howard County has the second largest with 23.2% of the population have received the first dose of the vaccine. Saline County has the third-highest percentage at 23%.
Columbia pharmacy plans to vaccinate hundreds
Flow's Pharmacy in Columbia said it can vaccinate up to 100 people each day and hopes to double that by the end of the month.
The pharmacy held a drive-thru coronavirus vaccination clinic in partnership with Boone Hospital Center at the pharmacy on Thursday.
Pharmacy owner Anthony Desha told ABC 17 News the pharmacy has received some extra vaccine doses from the Missouri Pharmacy Association. Desha said Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services has also provided extra doses.
Desha said anyone who is vaccine-eligible can call the pharmacy to schedule an appointment.
Flow's is one of several pharmacies offering coronavirus vaccinations in Columbia. Walmart, Hy-Vee, Sam's Club, D&H Drug Store, CVS and others all have vaccine doses available.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said in a tweet on Tuesday that pharmacies make up about 15% of the state's vaccinations. Pharmacies were tied with federally qualified health centers and local public health agencies for the amount of vaccinations, according to the tweet.
The state health department said Thursday nearly 2 million total vaccine doses have been administered in the state with more than 20% of state residents having initiated vaccination.
New COVID-19 case reports higher than 7-day averages
New COVID-19 cases reported in Missouri were higher than the seven-day averages on Thursday.
The state health department reports confirmed and probable cases through two types of testing -- PCR and antigen. Health officials say antigen tests provide results quicker than through PCR and can be more prone to false reports.
Department officials reported 478 confirmed, positive cases through PCR testing and 295 probable through antigen testing. Over the week ending on Monday, daily average cases reported through PCR testing were at 336, with a daily average of 238 cases reported through antigen testing over the same time.
The department has reported 485,009 cases through PCR testing since the pandemic started and 83,917 probable cases through antigen testing.
Since Monday, the state's seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate has remained unchanged at 4.5%. The rate has been reported at below the same level since March started.
State hospital officials said on the dashboard that 855 people were hospitalized and 165 others were in ICU beds because of the pandemic. Rates for virus-related hospitalizations and ICU stays have fallen for months.
The latest data available said fewer people were in ICUs than when the statistic was first reported in June. Officials said Missouri had 37% of its total hospital bed capacity still available.
A little more than 20% of Missourians have initiated coronavirus vaccination -- about 1.25 million people. Nearly 2 million total vaccine doses have been administered across the state, the dashboard said.
Health officials said nearly 25% of Boone Countians have initiated vaccination with more than 68,000 total doses having been administered.
