Jefferson County Health Department & City of Herculaneum Team Up to Vaccinate the Public

Jefferson County, MO – October 4, 2021: Jefferson County Health Department (JCHD) and the City of Herculaneum recently partnered to provide vaccinations for the public and city employees.

On Tuesday, September 28th, JCHD hosted a vaccination clinic utilizing their COVID vaccine mobile unit at Herculaneum City Hall to provide COVID and flu vaccines. A total of 65 vaccinations were provided to individuals aged from 21 to 104 years old: 22 flu vaccines and 43 COVID vaccines. Most of the COVID vaccines provided were Pfizer booster doses for eligible individuals.

The clinic was organized by the Herculaneum City Administrator, Jim Kasten. “We feel that it’s important our community leads the way in getting to a high percentage of folks vaccinated,” he states. “By having the health department van in our community to provide vaccinations, we are on our way to reaching that goal.”

“It was inspiring to see so many individuals do their part to protect themselves and the community through vaccination,” states Nursing Supervisor, Sarah Warncke. “Partnerships like this with the City of Herculaneum, are what help positively impact public health in the county.”

Many residents within the county do not have easy access to vaccination services because of barriers in transportation, location, or insurance coverage. Jefferson County Health Department aims to reduce these barriers by providing healthcare services, including vaccinations, throughout the community at accessible locations utilizing mobile clinics. With COVID vaccination rates low in the county, community partnerships have become an invaluable asset in increasing vaccine accessibility to Jefferson County residents.

Other businesses or organizations with Jefferson County interested in partnering with JCHD to host on-site COVID and/or flu vaccine clinics can complete the inquiry form found on the health department website: COVID-19 Vaccine — Jefferson County Health Department (jeffcohealth.org)

Importance of Physical Activity for Kids

School starting: Here are some ways to help kids and students active

School is starting back up and that means kids will be sitting around a lot more. As a parent and a teacher getting kids to sit still and focus can be a challenge! Finding the time to encourage activity can also be a challenge with busy schedules. With the weather cooling down and school starting there are plenty of opportunities to get kids moving, if you know where to look! A solid plan and a little creativity can make it fun and easy to find time to consistently get 60 minutes of activity!

For Parents

Ideally kids need to get 60 minutes of activity every day if not more! For kids and families with busy schedules you may be wondering where to find the time. Activity minutes don’t have to be strictly things that seem like “exercise” such as running, walking, jumping jacks, etc. Activity minutes can be anything that gets kids hearts beating faster. Kids can get activity minutes by doing chores like walking the dog, cleaning their room, and even washing the car. A win for the whole family! It’s also important to model behaviors for your children. If they see you trying something like yoga or working in the yard, encourage them to come join in, help out, and turn it into a moment the whole family can connect together through.

Some other ideas to be active in creative ways:

• Check out your local library!

  • All Jefferson County Libraries have physical activity kits that can be checked out and have activities for most ages! Call your local library to see what kits they have!

• Use some of these tips to make household chores fun!

  • https://www.scholastic.com/parents/family-life/parent-child/9-ways-to-make-household-chores-fun.html

• Try out this helpful tool to find time throughout the day to be active!

  • https://health.gov/moveyourway/get-kids-active

For Teachers

As a teacher getting kids to sit still and focus can be a challenge! Kids want and need to move around during their day. You can help kids reach their 60 minutes of activity by occasionally stopping for a brain break during the school day. Brain breaks have shown to help with attention and gets kids wiggles out so they can focus on their actual work. These breaks can be 3-4 minutes long as part of a transition activity, so it doesn’t interrupt their normal classwork. This can help kids shift gears, get their heart rates up, and focus on their next task!

Some ways to incorporate physical activity into the school day:

• Look through types of brain breaks and how they can be helpful to students!

  • https://www.theottoolbox.com/brain-breaks/

•  Find success stories and other resources here

  • https://www.actionforhealthykids.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/TS_Movement-in-Classroom_v3.pdf

•  Find movement videos for a wide variety of topics!

  • https://www.gonoodle.com

About the Author: Megan Winkelmann has been a Community Health Educator with the Jefferson County Health Department for just over two years. She attended Truman State University earning a bachelor’s degree in Health Science with a minor in Biology. While working for JCHD she attended A.T. Still University to earn her master’s degree in Public Health. Megan was born and raised in Jefferson County and enjoys creating programs that encourage healthy habits in the place she was raised. Megan likes to spend her free in time in the presence of family and friends.

Jefferson County Week 38 COVID Update

CDC Week 38 Epidemiological Analysis: (from JCHD Epidemiologist, Sara Wilton)

This week the county remains in the RED/highest transmission level with a weekly case count of 696 confirmed and probable cases and a positivity rate of 13.3%. Of these 696 new cases, 93.4% were unvaccinated. Our weekly case count decreased 9.49% from week 37 to week 38, but the percent positivity remains high. We reported 232 youth cases in week 38, accounting for 33.3% of all cases reported in that week.

Our total percentage of vaccinated individuals is 41.93% This is a significant increase from week 37, however, the state recently updated vaccination records to correct missing county data. While reviewing the completeness of residence address data in ShowMeVax, the MO DHSS team discovered a few areas of correction: adding counties when they were missing from the address, updating records where the listed county did not match the provided address, and updating records in which the state was incorrectly entered. When all corrections were made, most Missouri counties saw adjustments made to the number of doses administered to residents. These changes more accurately reflect where vaccinated residents live. Find more information here: https://health.mo.gov/living/healthcondiseases/communicable/novel-coronavirus/data/public-health/data-methodology-and-documentation.php

CDC Week 38 Epi Report:

Week+38+Reports.pdf (squarespace.com)

CDC Week 38 Vaccine Report:

JCHD_Covid19_Vaccine+Data_9.24.21.pdf (squarespace.com)

COVID-19 Case Updates: (as of 9/29/2021)

• Total Cases: 30,775

  • Active Cases: 879

• Total Deaths: 305

  • 7 community based, 2 LTCF based

    • Male, 40’s

    • Female, 50’s

    • Male, 60’s

    • 2 Females, 60’s

    • Male, 70’s

    • Female, 70’s

    • 2 Females, 80’s

Jefferson County Week 37 COVID Update

CDC Week 37 Epidemiological Analysis: (from JCHD Epidemiologist, Sara Wilton)

This week the county remains in the RED/highest transmission level with a weekly case count of 770 confirmed and probable cases and a positivity rate of 13.3%. Of these 770 new cases, 81.7% were unvaccinated. The percent positivity has been hovering around the 12-15% range for the last 7 weeks.

Our weekly case counts for both the whole population and the youth population continue to climb. Cases in the 0-19 group again represent the highest percent increase in cases this week. There were 251 total new cases for the 0-19 group, which is the highest weekly case count we have seen so far for this group. Last week, the weekly case count in 0–19-year-olds was 237 cases and prior to that the highest case rate we saw in this age group was 217 cases back in November 2020 during our surge.

Our total percentage of vaccinated individuals is 36.28% in week 37. Within the 10–19-year-old age group, 22.52% have been fully vaccinated.

CDC Week 37 Epi Report:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57f035cc9f745646c52342b9/t/614b780070f77d48dbb1a564/1632335872514/Week+37+Reports.pdf

CDC Week 37 Vaccine Report:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57f035cc9f745646c52342b9/t/614b4096d7ba3b05a051085d/1632321686946/JCHD_Covid19_Vaccine+Data_9.17.21.pdf

COVID-19 Case Updates: (as of 9/22/2021)

• Total Cases: 30,160

  • Active Cases: 1,002

• Total Deaths: 296

  • 8 additional deaths to report (5 within week 37, and 3 additional since Sunday)

  • 6 community based, 2 LTCF based

    • Male, 30’s

    • Male, 50’s

    • Male, 70’s

    • 2 Females, 80’s

    • 3 Females, 90’s

Jefferson County Health Department Reports Second Mosquito Tests Positive for West Nile Virus

On September 20th mosquitoes collected by Jefferson County Health Department (JCHD), detected West Nile Virus in a mosquito population within Imperial, MO. This is the second positive West Nile detected this season.

The Vector Division has notified Jefferson County Administration and JCHD began implementing control measures in the affected areas of concern on the evening of September 20.  JCHD’s Mosquito Control and Surveillance program will continue to monitor the area for West Nile Virus in the mosquito population.

The health department encourages residents throughout the county to be diligent in protecting themselves and their loved ones when they are outdoors. Protection from mosquitoes, and the diseases they carry, can be as simple as using insect repellents that contain 20% - 50% DEET or Picaridin, wearing light colored clothes, and covering exposed skin. In addition to personal protection, residents can protect their homes and property by remove standing water sources such as waste tires, cans, buckets, flowerpot sills, or other containers that can hold water for mosquitoes to lay their eggs in. 

For more information about the JCHD Mosquito Control and Surveillance Program, please visit the health department at www.jeffcohealth.org.