TUESDAY UPDATES: Missouri partnerships help homebound residents to get COVID-19 vaccines
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is working with other statewide agencies to help homebound adults have a streamlined and accessible vaccination experience across the state.
The homebound referral process begins with the Area Agencies on Aging who help identify homebound residents. Adults who are homebound and want to be vaccinated in their home can register through their local Area Agency on Aging or through the Missouri Vaccine Navigator registry by indicating they are homebound.
The Area Agency on Aging makes contact with the homebound individual to obtain consent and gather the pertinent information to coordinate the vaccination in their home. In some cases, caregivers and other household members may also be vaccinated at the same time as the homebound individual to prevent vaccine wastage.
“This program will provide much-needed protection against COVID-19 for clients who may find it difficult to visit a vaccine clinic,” says Dr. Fredrick Echols, Acting Director of Health for the City of St. Louis. “By bringing the vaccine to them, we remove the barrier of travel and ensure these clients are not left behind in the vaccination process.”
If you or someone you know is homebound or unable to visit a COVID-19 vaccination clinic without assistance, please call the COVID-19 Hotline at 877-435-8411 and press option 4 to be routed directly to your local Area Agency on Aging to make a vaccine appointment. You can also register homebound individuals for the vaccine by visiting Missouri’s COVID-19 website, MOStopsCovid.com. COVID-19 Hotline hours of operation are Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Individuals are encouraged to call soon to ensure their names are added to the list.
Boone County active coronavirus cases drop below 60
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting 12 new COVID-19 cases.
There are currently 56 active cases in the county.
The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 18,508.
The county has reported the total number of cases removed from isolation is 18,336.
The health department is reporting two Boone County residents are in the hospital due to the coronavirus.
The State of Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 85,760 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 73,316 Boone County residents have completed their vaccine doses.
Boone County has the largest percentage of people in Mid-Missouri that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 47.5%. The second closest in the state is St. Louis County with 44.9%.
Boone County is first in the state with a reported 40.6% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Charles County is second in the state with 37% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 38%. Montgomery County is third with 33.9%.
State reports 56 additional deaths due to COVID-19
Missouri's Department of Health and Senior services recorded 56 additional deaths to the coronavirus Tuesday, according to data on the state health dashboard.
The addition brings the total number of pandemic-related deaths in the state to 9,062.
State health officials said 42 of the 56 deaths were linked to COVID-19 following a weekly review of data and death certificates. While most occurred this year, they date back to October 2020. See when the deaths occurred in the list below:
- October 2020: 1
- November 2020: 3
- December 2020: 1
- January 2021: 3
- February 2021: 4
- March 2021: 1
- April 2021: 17
- May 2021: 12
State health officials added 273 confirmed cases of the virus to the dashboard Tuesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases throughout the pandemic to 509,914.
An additional 190 probable cases were also added, putting the total number of probable cases discovered through antigen testing to 87,000.
The seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate stayed steady for yet another day, still at 3.9%.
As of Tuesday morning, 41.1% of Missouri's population has gotten at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 34% of Missourians have completed the vaccination process.
