FRIDAY UPDATES: Nearly 500,000 entered the Missouri Vaccine Incentive Program

The state of Missouri announced there were 495,296 MO VIP entries for the first drawing taking place Friday. Winners won't be announced till August 25.

“MO VIP is playing a role in driving up vaccinations in our state,” said Gov. Mike Parson. “As Governor, I have worked hard to ensure that vaccines are widely available to all Missourians and focused on encouraging our citizens to get the facts from trusted experts. We’re excited to celebrate the winners and their choice to become vaccinated against COVID-19.”

Since the launch of MO VIP, the state’s vaccine dashboard shows more than 300,000 doses have been administered. More than 180,000 individuals have initiated vaccination in the same time period. As of today, more than 50 percent of the eligible population (12 and up) has completed vaccination.

“Everyone who gets vaccinated and enters this drawing is a winner in my mind, regardless of whether they receive a prize,” said DHSS Acting Director Robert Knodell. “We know the vaccines give protection against severe illness, hospitalizations and death we have seen with COVID-19 - that’s the true definition of winning.”

Eighty winners will be randomly selected during today’s drawing from both the Red and White categories (10 from each congressional district). These individuals will each receive a cash prize of $10,000. In addition, 20 adolescents from the Blue category will be randomly selected to receive a $10,000 education savings account through the Missouri State Treasurer’s MOST 529 program. A total of 900 individuals will be rewarded through MO VIP through October.

Saline and two other counties named latest COVID-19 hot spot in Missouri

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is now listing Saline County and two others as a COVID-19 hot spot.

COVID-19 cases in Saline County are currently up 165 cases in the past two weeks. According to DHSS, Saline County has seen a 61.5% increase in the past two weeks. The county's seven-day positivity rate is 17.2%.

Officials report hospitals in the region are seeing resource strain from dramatically increased numbers of COVID-19 patients and hospitalizations.

The department is reporting several hospitals in the region are at or near capacity.

Continued disease spread into Central Missouri is expected.

The vaccination rate within Saline County is 35.8%. Experts say at least 70% - 80% of people need immunity to minimize spread within a community.

Boone County reports sixth coronavirus related death since Monday

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting one coronavirus-related death. That brings the total number of coronavirus deaths in Boone County to 129. The individual was in the 50-54 age group and died Aug. 2. This is the sixth reported coronavirus-related death since Monday. Boone County now has the most coronavirus-related deaths in Mid-Missouri.

The county reported 64 new COVID-19 cases Thursday.

There are currently 687 active cases in the county, a decrease of 45 from Thursday. The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 22,008.

The county reported 21,192 cases removed from isolation, an increase of 108 from Thursday.

Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. There have been no percent change in cases this week. The county has an 11% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The positivity rate is up for the previous week of August 6 through Thursday to 26.9.

The health department's hospital status remains in yellow, with 131 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 23 of them being Boone County residents. Of those, 37 are in intensive care and 14 are on ventilators.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 98,674 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 86,621 Boone County residents have completed their vaccine doses. Boone County has the largest percentage of county residents in Mid-Missouri that have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 54.7%. The second closest county in the state is St. Louis County with 53.7%.

Boone County is first in the state with a reported 48% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the second county in the state with 47.2% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination.

Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 46.7%. Montgomery County is third with 42.1%.

Cole County reports 45 new coronavirus cases

The Cole County Health Department reports 45 new coronavirus cases.

According to the dashboard update, there are a total of 9,896 resident cases and a total of 280 cases for long-term care facility residents. That brings a total of 10,176 total cases in the county.

The county is currently reporting 128 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic started, which is tied for the most in Mid-Missouri.

Cole County ranks 13th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per capita in the past week. Cases are down 17% on the week. The county has a 16.1% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 40.5% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.

Boone County health department says most new infections in unvaccinated people

Most of the people infected with coronavirus in Boone County over one week in July were not fully vaccinated, the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services said Friday.

The department said in a social media post that 548 residents tested positive for the virus from July 19 to 25. Of those, 454 were not fully vaccinated or their status could not be verified (including 117 who were partially vaccinated). That means about 83% of the cases were in people who were not fully vaccinated.

The department did not say how many ended up hospitalized. Health experts say vaccinated people who get sick are far less likely to develop moderate to severe COVID-19 and almost always remain out of the hospital.

The department said the best way to stop the spread of coronavirus is to be vaccinated.

Boone County, like other counties across the state, is seeing a sustained surge in cases attributed to the more contagious delta variant of the coronavirus. The county's five-day average of new cases remains at levels comparable to February, before vaccines were widely available.

Just 48% of the county is fully vaccinated, according to the state's COVID-19 dashboard.

COVID-19 patients in Missouri ICUs remain near record high as surge continues

The number of patients with COVID-19 in Missouri's intensive care units remained near a record high Friday as the delta variant continues to strain health care resources.

Preliminary numbers reported Friday showed more than 662 daily patients in intensive care over the last week on average. The number fell just short of the average high reported on Christmas Eve last year, according to Missouri's coronavirus dashboard. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson this week announced $30 million to help hospitals with bringing in extra staff as the pandemic pushes some hospital workforces to their limits.

Boone County's hospitals remain in "yellow" status, meaning some of them are delaying some types of care or prohibiting some transfers.

The state reported five new deaths for a total of 10,007.

The number of new cases continued its fast rise, with the state reporting 2,213 new confirmed infections for a total of 597,903 since the pandemic began. The state reported another 729 probable cases through antigen testing.

The new cases reported Friday are above the state dashboard average of daily cases -- 1,991. However, the state reports new cases have fallen 6.2% over the past week, with a positive test rate of 14.5%.

In Central Missouri, Callaway and Cole counties are among the top in the state for new cases per capita over the past week. Callaway ranks 10th in the state and Cole comes in at 13th.

Vaccination rates have risen since their early July doldrums, but the state's overall percentage of fully vaccinated residents continues to lag at just 42.8%. Health experts say vaccination and mask-wearing are the best ways to slow the spread of the more contagious delta strain of the coronavirus.