News Staff

The Adair County Health Department is working with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the Missouri National Guard and other health departments and healthcare providers in the region on a mass vaccination drive-through scheduled for Wednesday, February. 10th, at the NEMO Fairgrounds.

More than 2,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be available that day. All Phase 1A and 1B, Tier 1 and Tier 2, target groups may register for the event. Those include adults age 65 and older and high-risk individuals. Target groups also include long-term and residential care workers, hospital and healthcare workers, and emergency workers.

Those residents who have emailed the Adair County Health Department but have not been called for a vaccine yet are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity.

Register online with the link provided on the Adair County Health Department’s Facebook page and website.

Those Adair County residents who do not have internet access can call the Health Department at one of the 3 following numbers: 660-665-8491, 660-730-6100 or 660-730-6200.

The COVID-19 case count hit 2,206 yesterday in Adair County with confirmation of 14 new cases. There are 90 active cases and 2,096 people who have left isolation. The latest cases include nine in the higher education sector, one in the K-12 schools sector and eight at addresses with at least one other confirmed case. A 55-year-old male was admitted to Northeast Regional Medical Center on February 3rd and is not requiring use of a ventilator.

The Knox County Health Department is advising residents take precautions as COVID-19 rates remain high in the county. Health officials say for the first time they have quarantined individuals that had to be told they could not receive their second doses of COVID vaccine next week and will have to wait and be rerouted after quarantine. The health department says you want the vaccine, be sure to avoid crowds and quarantine.

Seventeen new COVID-19 cases confirmed by the Adair County Health Department Tuesday and six more yesterday bring the overall case count to 2,192. There are 89 people in isolation, 2,083 people who have left isolation and 20 COVID-related deaths. Of the new cases, 14 are in the higher education sector and seven reside at addresses with at least one other confirmed case. A 64-year-old male was admitted to Boone Hospital in Columbia on February 1st and is not requiring use of a ventilator.

The Sullivan County Health Department’s Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Pre-Registration for tomorrow’s clinic at Northeast Rural Electric Co-Op is complete. The Health Department does not have a waiting list for the vaccine. They will continue issue press releases to get the word out about future vaccine clinics.

Kirksville police are warning about residential renting scams. According to KPD, over the past few days they’re getting reports where people were asked to wire or digitally transmit funds of $50-60 dollars to cover what was reported as an application fee for a rental property the 700 block of East Randolph Street in Kirksville. In one instance after transferring the requested fee the victim noted there was an “international tax fee” indicating the money was sent out of the United States. Application fees are common practice for landlords and rental agencies that are designed to cover the out-of-pocket costs associated with running a credit check and criminal history scan. Someone offering a rental who does not want to talk in person, gives few details or does not offer to allow you to view the property in person, should be considered suspicious.

Main Street Kirksville is looking for people to serve in one of four subcommittees: organization, promotion, design, and economic vitality. If you are interested, send a message to the organization at facebook.com/downtownkirksville

While Adair County continues COVID vaccination efforts, health officials want to make sure residents are aware of an important part of the process. Jim LeBaron, Adair County Health Department administrator says the key to the distribution of more vaccine doses among more entities is understanding that for now, individuals should not mix vaccines.

Both current two-dose vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, are mRNA vaccines; however, there has not been sufficient research to determine how mixing them might inhibit the effectiveness of the vaccine. LeBaron says for now, if your first dose was the Pfizer vaccine, your second dose should be the Pfizer vaccine. If your first dose was the Moderna vaccine, your second dose should be the Moderna vaccine.

LeBaron adds that while you need to stick with a single vaccine maker for both doses, you don’t have to stick with the same entity distributing the doses.

The Putman County Health Department is receiving 300 doses of Moderna vaccine this week and will be holding vaccine clinics in their office this Thursday, February 4th and Friday, February 5th. These clinics will be by appointment only and the health department will schedule appointments starting this morning. You can call their main line and dial 0 to schedule. The office only has 4 phone lines available, so they ask that you be patient. If you call in and receive a busy signal hang up and try again until you can get through.

17 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed by the Adair County Health Department yesterday. That brings the number of total cases to 2,186. The new cases included nine females ranging from age 19 to 59, and eight males ranging from age 20 to 64. The health department will provide more details in tomorrow’s update.