WEDNESDAY UPDATES: Missouri expands COVID-19 treatment for high-risk individuals

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) along with a Texas company will begin providing monoclonal antibody (mAb) infusion treatment for 30 days at sites in the following counties: Jackson, Pettis, Scott, Butler, and Jefferson.

"As the Delta variant continues to spread across the state and pose serious health risks to unvaccinated Missourians, our state teams are continuing to do everything possible to provide support and save lives," Governor Parson said. "It is our hope that these infusion centers will help relieve hospital strain and health care worker fatigue as we move forward with our efforts to get more Missourians vaccinated. Just as we have done from the beginning, we will continue to work with our partners to identify resource needs and respond to this virus."

Monoclonal antibodies are proteins that can help your body fight off COVID-19 and reduce the risk of severe disease and hospitalization – if administered to high-risk patients soon after diagnosis.

Site selection is being made in conjunction with regional and local partners. The state estimates the sites could treat up to 4,000 patients across the state in the 30-day timeframe.

Additionally, on Tuesday, DHSS published a standing order authorizing eligible health care providers to administer REGEN-COV, the treatment being used for mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization. Patients who could benefit from this treatment will need to be referred for treatment by an eligible health care provider.

Missouri announces first $10,000 winners of vaccine incentive program

The state of Missouri has announced the first $10,000 winners of the first drawing of the MO VIP.

The state says 170 of the 180 winners have been verified, the last 10 have until Friday at 5 p.m. to complete the necessary documentation to verify their identity and vaccination status, or the prizes will be preliminarily awarded to someone else.

“We congratulate these 180 Missourians, not only for winning this drawing but more importantly for stepping up to do the right thing and choosing to get vaccinated,” Gov. Parson said. “The vaccines are proven to be safe, effective, and the best resource available to prevent serious illness from COVID-19. Vaccination is how we protect ourselves and those we care for from this virus. We have seen vaccine uptake increase since this program began, and we hope inspiring stories from individuals like Cooper and Rebecca and the continued chance at $10,000 will further encourage Missourians to choose vaccination.”

With state and federal vaccination data combined, 61% of Missouri’s eligible population (12 and up) has now initiated vaccination.

Each of the five drawings will generate 180 winners, for a total of 900 winners overall.

The next drawing will take place this Friday, but entries must be entered online by 11:59 p.m. tonight.

Boone County reports third coronavirus-related death since Monday; 136 total

The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services is reporting another coronavirus-related death. The individual was in the 80+ age group and died Aug. 3. That brings the total number of deaths to 136, the most in Mid-Missouri.

The county is reporting 61 new COVID-19 cases for Tuesday.

There are currently 518 active cases in the county, an increase of 35 from Tuesday. The county now has a reported total number of COVID-19 cases of 22,684.

The county reported 22,030 cases removed from isolation, an increase of 25 from Tuesday.

Boone County ranks eighth in the state with the most coronavirus cases in total volume in the past week. Cases are down 16.2% on the week. The county has a 9.6% 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 116 COVID-19 patients in Boone County hospitals and 19 of them being Boone County residents. Of those, 35 are in intensive care and 13 are on ventilators.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard is reporting that 100,490 residents have received their first dose in Boone County and 88,678 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 55.7%. The second closest county in the state is St. Louis County with 54.7%.

Boone County is first in the state with a reported 49.1% of residents that have completed their coronavirus vaccine doses. St. Louis County is the second county in the state with 48.4% of residents have completed the doses for vaccination.

Cole County has the second-highest first vaccination rate in Mid-Missouri with 47.9%. Montgomery County is third with 43.2%.

Over 42% of Cole County residents are fully vaccinated against COVID

The Cole County Health Department reported 30 new coronavirus cases.

According to the dashboard update, there are 10,261 residential cases and a total of 282 cases for long-term care facility residents. That brings a total of 10,543 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 17.3% on the week. The county has a 12.5% positive test rate, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The Missouri coronavirus vaccine dashboard reports about 42.1% of the county's population have been fully vaccinated.

Capital Region requires employees to get coronavirus vaccine

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been corrected to say the hospital will allow medical and religious exemptions.

Anyone working or learning at Capital Region Medical Center in Jefferson City will have to be vaccinated by Nov. 15, with exceptions for medical or religious reasons, the hospital said Wednesday.

The hospital cited the ongoing coronavirus surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths that is being fueled by the delta variant. Most of Capital Region's COVID-19 patients are not vaccinated and nearly 99% of U.S. coronavirus deaths nationally are in unvaccinated people, Capital Region said in a news release.

“The health and safety of our employees, patients and our community remain our top priority,” Gaspare Calvaruso, president of Capital Region Medical Center, said in the release. “With full FDA approval granted for the Pfizer vaccine for everyone 16 and older, we believe the time is appropriate to mandate vaccination for Capital Region employees.”

The vaccination deadline is meant to make sure employees and students at Capital Region are inoculated in time for flu season. The hospital joins MU Health Care and SSM-St. Mary's in requiring vaccinations. Boone Health is holding off on a requirement, instead choosing to provide incentives.

Cole County has ranked among the worst in Missouri for most new cases per capita for several weeks. The county ranked 26th Wednesday for new cases, according to state health officials. It ranks 44th for most deaths per capita over the course of the pandemic.

Cole County is in the top 10 for vaccination rate, with 42.1% of its population completing vaccination.

State records fewer than 2,000 new cases for fifth straight day

The state health dashboard added 1,898 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Wednesday morning. It marked the fifth day in a row the state recorded fewer than 2,000 new cases of the virus.

In total, Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services has confirmed 619,920 positive cases since the start of the pandemic. That total does not account for the 124,584 probable coronavirus cases also found since the start of the pandemic.

The statewide seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate also remained the same, sitting at 13.1%.

Despite signs that coronavirus cases in the state are leveling out, state health officials recorded 21 new deaths due to COVID-19, pushing the Show-Me State's death toll to 10,397.

COVID hospitalizations also saw an increase. The latest data from DHSS shows 2,268 patients were being treated in Missouri hospitals on Sunday. Of those patients, 657 were receiving intensive care.

COVID-19 hospitalizations up again in State Profile Report

New COVID-19 hospital admissions went up 3% to 1,913 per 100,000 according to Missouri's latest State Profile Report.

The report shows while new cases are down 8% to 17,564 per 100,000 people, Missouri remains in the "red" with high community transmission of the virus.

COVID-19 related deaths remained the same, at 183 per 100,000.

In Missouri hospitals, 32 are reporting staffing shortages with seven reporting supply shortages. Both numbers remain unchanged from the previous profile report.

All Missouri counties remain in the red zone, or high transmission level, outside of Scotland County, which is in the yellow zone.

Vaccine rates across the state are falling according to the latest report, as 43,980 people 18 and older initiated vaccination last week which is 17.9% lower than the last report.

The report said 10,308 people 12-17 years old initiated vaccination last week, which is 2.6% lower than the last report. Meanwhile, 54,288 people 12 and older received their first dose last week, which is 15.4% lower than the last report.

Separately, the CDC also updated the proportions of variants in the nation. According to the latest data, the delta variant now accounts for 97.6% of new cases in Missouri, which is up .1% from the previous data.