Jefferson County Week 14 COVID Update

ORANGE Status | 7-day rolling average cases per day per 100,000 residents: 18.67 | Positivity Rate: 8.74%

CDC Week 14 Epidemiological Analysis: (from JCHD Epidemiologist, Sara Wilton)

The weekly case count during Week 14 was similar to the number we experienced in Week 13. Our percent positivity increased only slightly. Because this past week was our first “bigger” holiday in a while, it will be interesting to see what happens with the weekly case counts the next couple weeks since we always experienced increases after holidays during 2020. I anticipate a little increase but hopeful it will not be as drastic as the increases we saw last year due to the percentage of residents who have now been vaccinated. We now have 21% of residents who have completed their first dose of the vaccine, and 12.64% who are fully vaccinated.

As far as vaccines go, we know there is a good portion of the population who is vaccine hesitant, and that reaching herd immunity may very well be in the hands of these folks. Though there is a pause on the use of the J&J vaccine, it is important to reiterate that the priority always has and will be safety and efficacy of these vaccines. This isn’t a reason for folks to be afraid or mistrustful, but rather a reason to increase trust even more. It proves that our system in recognizing and investigating possible vaccine reactions is effective. Six cases of blood clots out of 6.8 million J&J doses that have been administered so far is a 0.000088% risk. The risk of blood clots from actual COVID-19 infection is estimated to be in the range of 20-30%, so much higher.

A bit of good news to include is that there were zero cases reported in our long-term care facilities during Week 14. Once again, the highest percent increase in cases over the course of the last 7 days came from our younger age groups; the highest being the 10–19-year age group and the 20–29-year age group followed right behind.

CDC Week 14 Case Updates: (as of 4/14/2021)

• Total Cases: 22,727, Active Cases: 377

• Total Deaths: 236

  • Three additional COVID-19 deaths reported this week: female-60’s, female-80’s, and male-60’s

  • One LTCF associated death, two community based deaths

CDC Week 14 Epi Reports:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57f035cc9f745646c52342b9/t/6076dbbe04fcb719369bc9c6/1618402239265/Week+14+Reports.pdf

CDC Week 14 Vaccine Report:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57f035cc9f745646c52342b9/t/6076dc1688001e63f3081823/1618402326560/JCHD_Covid19_Vaccine+Data_4.9.21.pdf

Vaccine Updates:

• JCHD has provided 14,994 doses total

  • 10,605 first doses (Moderna and Janssen)

  • 4,389 second doses (Moderna)

• JCHD COVID Vaccine Clinic registration is now open to any eligible Missourian

  • Registration links can be found on website, www.jeffcohealth.org/covid19-vaccine

• 28,438, or 12.64%, of Jeffco residents have been fully vaccinated

Johnson and Johnson Vaccine Statement

In accordance with recommendations from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (MODHSS), Jefferson County Health Department (JCHD) will pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine out of an abundance of caution.  The CDC and FDA are reviewing data involving six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type blood clot in individuals after receiving the J&J vaccine.

JCHD has halted distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine per guidelines released this morning from the MODHSS. Jefferson County Health Department provided about 500 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine at a clinic yesterday, April 12th with no serious adverse reactions reported. 

Per the federal health authorities, people who have received the J&J vaccine who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider. Patients with other clinical questions should contact their health care provider. 

JCHD will continue to update the public as additional information becomes available.

Jefferson County Week 13 COVID Update

ORANGE Status | 7-day rolling average cases per day per 100,000 residents: 18.03 | Positivity Rate: 8.28%

CDC Week 13 Epidemiological Analysis: (from JCHD Epidemiologist, Sara Wilton)

Our cases increased around 6.7% over the course of the last 7 days. This is about the same pace that cases increased nationally last week. Our total number of PCR tests decreased quite a bit after the winter holidays last year, but this past week we finally had over 2000 PCR tests performed again.

We need to continue to promote testing to help with surveillance, especially while new variants continue to be a threat and vaccination rates are still low.

Our age groups with the highest covid vaccination rates so far (70-79 years and 80+ years) are also the age groups that had the lowest number of weekly cases and lowest percent increase in cases over the past 7 days. This is incredibly encouraging so far, and I look forward to tracking the trends among all age groups as we vaccinate more of the community.

CDC Week 13 Case Updates: (as of 4/7/2021)

-        Total Cases: 22,386, Active Cases: 396

-        Total Deaths: 233

o   No additional COVID-19 deaths reported this week

CDC Week 13 Epi Reports:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57f035cc9f745646c52342b9/t/606dcafb69091a2f98722cde/1617808124944/Week+13+Reports.pdf

CDC Week 13 Vaccine Report:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57f035cc9f745646c52342b9/t/606dcb1b3db1926321e1684e/1617808156034/JCHD_Covid19_Vaccine+Data_3.30.21.pdf

Vaccine Updates:

• JCHD has provided 13,247 doses total

  • 9,187 first doses (Moderna and Janssen)

  • 4,060 second doses (Moderna)

• JCHD COVID Vaccine Clinic registration is now open to any eligible Missourian

  • Registration links can be found on website, www.jeffcohealth.org/covid19-vaccine

• 24,056, or 10.69%, of Jeffco residents have been fully vaccinated

Jefferson County Health Department to Move Away from Inquiry List for Future Vaccine Clinics

Jefferson County Health Department will begin making COVID-19 vaccine clinic registration links open to the public via their website and social media starting with the April 6 clinic planned in Festus.

The inquiry link created back in January will be deactivated Sunday, April 4, 2021 at 11:59 PM. Any individual on the list prior to the link closing will still receive an email invitation for clinics the week of April 5th. Moving forward clinic registration links will be open to the eligible public via JCHD website and social media pages on a weekly basis.

Clinics scheduled next week will be open to those in Phase 1A, Phase 1B (all tiers), and Phase 2. The State of Missouri Vaccination Distribution Plan opens Phase 3 starting April 9th. Future clinics hosted by JCHD will be open to all Missourians per the state plan. Upcoming JCHD COVID-19 vaccine clinics for the month of April include:

-           Monday, April 5, 8:30am-5pm, 1,400 prime doses

-           Tuesday, April 6, 8:30am-5pm, 1,500 prime doses

-           Wednesday, April 7, 8:30am-5pm, 1,500 prime doses

-           Monday, April 12, 8:30am-5pm, 1,400 prime doses

-           Tuesday, April 13, 8:30am-6pm, 1,800 prime doses

-           Wednesday, April 14, 8:30am-6pm, 1,800 prime doses

-           Monday, April 19, 8:30am-5pm, 1,400 prime doses

-           Tuesday, April 20, 8:30am-6:30pm, 2,000 prime doses

-           Wednesday, April 21, 8:30am-6:30pm, 2,000 prime doses

-           Monday, April 26, 8:30am-5pm, 1400 prime doses

-           Tuesday, April 27, 8:30am-6:30pm, 2,000 prime doses

-           Wednesday, April 28, 8:30am-6:30pm, 2,000 prime doses

-           Thursday, April 29, 8:30am-5pm, 1,000 booster doses

“We are excited to have made it through our list as quickly as we did,” states Jefferson County Health Department Director, Kelley Vollmar. “In the beginning we had more interested individuals on our list than vaccine. It seems we are beginning to turn a corner in having more vaccine than individuals on our list. It’s a good problem to have and we are happy to open our links publicly to make it easier for residents to obtain a vaccine.”

Jefferson County Week 12 COVID Update

CDC Week 12: ORANGE Status 7-day rolling average cases per day per 100,000 residents: 16.19 | Positivity Rate: 7.66%

CDC Week 12 Epidemiological Analysis: (from JCHD Epidemiologist, Sara Wilton)

We experienced an increase in weekly cases once again. This increase has not pushed us into red status; however, we are classified as light red according to the White House Metric ‘new cases per 100k per week’ after 5 weeks being classified as orange in this category. Nationally, overall cases are up about 10% over the last 7 days as well.

The White House did issue updated guidance for their metrics chart, so starting Week 12 the colors are based off this new guidance. Not much has changed, but there were a few small tweaks to a couple metrics including the ‘total diagnostic tests resulted per 100k per week’ category.

We are continuing to see around 6,500 doses of the vaccine being administered to our residents weekly. There is a little bit of a delay with the vaccine reporting which is why the week of 3/21 looks to have fallen short. Complete data for the previous week isn’t available until the following Friday.  As of 3/25/2021, 15.73% of Jefferson County residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 8.45% have been fully vaccinated.

CDC Week 12 Case Updates: (as of 3/31/2021)

• Total Cases: 22,087, Active Cases: 362

• Total Deaths: 233

  • 2 additional COVID-19 deaths this week; female 60’s, female 70’s, one LTCF associated

CDC Week 12 Epi Reports:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57f035cc9f745646c52342b9/t/606484dd04bf8f0877fd9be0/1617200350454/Week+12+reports.pdf

CDC Week 12 Vaccine Report:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57f035cc9f745646c52342b9/t/606485010b2587640e534691/1617200385308/JCHD_Covid19_Vaccine+Data_3.25.21.pdf

Vaccine Updates:

• JCHD has provided 11,370 doses total

  • 7,312 first doses (Moderna and Janssen)

  • 4,058 second doses (Moderna)

• Several clinics are scheduled in April at the new Vaccine Clinic site in Festus

  • https://www.jeffcohealth.org/blog/clinics-at-festus-site

• 19,011, or 8.45%, of Jeffco residents have been fully vaccinated