MONDAY UPDATES: Second “MO VIP” drawing entry deadline is Wednesday
More than 540,000 Missourians have been vaccinated and entered Missouri’s COVID-19 vaccine incentive program for a shot at $10,000.
The second of five drawings takes place this Friday, with the new entries deadline for the drawing ending at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. Those who have already entered should not enter again. Unless randomly selected as a winner in the first drawing, they will remain eligible for all future drawings.
“As we have notified MO VIP winners of the big news over the past two weeks, they have been very excited and thankful that they chose vaccination. They are winners for more than just one reason,” said Robert Knodell, Acting Director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. “We hope many of these winners will share their story behind that decision with others and encourage them to do the same.”
More than 400,000 doses have been administered by state-enrolled providers since the day after the launch of MO VIP. With state and federal vaccination data combined, Missouri is nearing 61% of the eligible population having initiated vaccination.
Over 100,000 Boone County residents have started the coronavirus vaccination process
The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting another coronavirus-related death. The individual was in the 60-64 age group and died Aug. 12. That brings the total number of deaths to 134. Cole County has the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths with 135.
The county is also reporting 109 new COVID-19 cases. The county is reporting one case for Saturday, zero cases on Sunday and 108 cases on Monday.
There are currently 492 active cases in the county, a decrease of 125 from Friday. The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 22,549.
The county reported 21,923 cases removed from isolation, an increase of 233 from Friday.
Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. Cases are down 27% on the week. The county has a 9.8% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The positivity rate is up for the previous week of August 13 through Thursday to 29.6.
The health department's hospital status remains yellow, with 117 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 22 of them being Boone County residents. Of those, 33 are in intensive care and 14 are on ventilators.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 100,208 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 88,346 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 55.5%. The second closest county in the state is St. Louis County with 54.5%.
Boone County is first in the state with a reported 49% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the second county in the state with 48.2% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination.
Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 47.7%. Montgomery County is third with 43.1%.
Cole County reports coronavirus cases down nearly 25% compared to the previous week
The Cole County Health Department reported 62 new coronavirus cases.
According to the dashboard update, there are 10,191 residential cases and a total of 282 cases for long-term care facility residents. That brings a total of 10,473 total cases in the county.
The county is currently reporting 135 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic started, which is the most in Mid-Missouri.
Cole County ranks 26th in the state for counties with the most coronavirus cases per capita in the past week. Cases are down 24.8% on the week. The county has a 13.1% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 41.8% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.
Blue Note to require coronavirus vaccination or negative test
Columbia concert venue The Blue Note will require proof of full coronavirus vaccination or a negative test in the last 72 hours to enter starting next month.
The venue announced the change, effective Sept. 6, on social media Monday. The release came just hours after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it had approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for use in people 16 and older. The vaccine, like coronavirus shots from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, had previously been OK'd under emergency authorization.
The policy also applies to events at Rose Music Hall and on Ninth Street. The Blue Note holds street concerts as part of its Summerfest series.
More information on the policy is available on The Blue Note's website.
The state health department reports 49% of Boone County residents are fully vaccinated. However, case rates around the area have surged this summer, powered by the more transmissible delta variant. As of Friday, the five-day average of new cases in Boone County was comparable to levels last seen in February. County hospitals were treating 117 coronavirus patients as of Friday.
Southwest Missouri health system requires employee vaccines
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP)
CoxHealth officials will require all employees in its southwest Missouri hospitals to have the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by Oct. 15.
The hospital system, based in Springfield, announced the vaccine requirement Monday shortly after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave its full approval to the Pfizer vaccine. CoxHealth CEO Steve Edwards said the hospital system will give "careful consideration" to allowing exemptions for medical and religious reasons.
CoxHealth said 70% of its employees are already vaccinated, including 90% of its physicians. The announcement comes as state health officials say 44% of the state's residents have received full doses of the vaccine.
In Mid-Missouri, both SSM Health -- operating of St. Mary's Hospital in Jefferson City -- and MU Health Care have announced vaccination requirements for their employees. Boone Health is offering employees incentives to get vaccinated but is not requiring the shot.
New coronavirus cases decline in Missouri
New coronavirus cases in Missouri are down nearly 20% over the past week, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The department's state dashboard reported a 19.6% drop in cases week over week Monday. The case numbers used to calculate the week-over-week change are delayed three days.
New cases reported Monday were below the average daily total for the past week, with 1,313 confirmed cases through PCR testing. Another 131 probable cases were identified through antigen testing. The state has reported 616,252 total confirmed cases and 123,217 probable cases since the pandemic started last year.
One new death was reported Monday for a total of 10,206 since the pandemic began. The state's positive test rate is 13.3%.
Moniteau and Callaway counties remain in the top 20 for most new cases per capita over the past week, with Moniteau at No. 5 and Callaway at No. 17.
The continuing surge in cases powered by the highly transmissible delta variant continues to strain the state's hospitals. The average number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care remains at its highest point during the pandemic, with 14% ICU capacity remaining statewide. ICU capacity is at 26% in the state's central region.
Vaccinations in Missouri continue to lag, with just 44% of residents fully vaccinated. Just 28.2% of Missourians in the 12-17 age group, many of whom are returning to classrooms this week, have been fully vaccinated.
The state saw an uptick in vaccinations early this month but now the number of new shots given has stalled at about 13,000 per day.
