Vaccine requirements dropped to residents 50 years and older

Mississippians 50 years of age or older are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Tate Reeves announced late last week.

Madison County reported 41,935 vaccinations being administered in the county since the vaccine became available, according to Wednesday’s Mississippi State Department of Health COVID-19 report. That number is up 5,587 vaccinations over last week’s number of 36,348 total vaccinations.

The MSDH vaccination report does not distinguish the county of residence of the people receiving the vaccines so all of those vaccines may not have been administered to people who are residents of Madison County.

As of March 5, Madison County Schools have reported approximately 265 new cases since January. No students have needed to quarantine, leaving the number this week at 9, according to Wednesday’s MSDH report.

Madison County has recorded 9,569 COVID-19 cases, up from 9,378 in last week’s report, and 204 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began last March, according to MSDH statistics released Wednesday.

Madison County reported 191 new cases since last week and 10 new deaths. 

Vaccines are available at the Walmart locations in Canton and Madison. Go to https://msdh.ms.gov/c19appointment#local to check availability. 

The state of Mississippi is currently giving COVID-19 immunizations for the following:

• Mississippi teachers and first responders

• All healthcare workers and EMT/paramedics

• Persons age 50 or older or those with pre-existing conditions.

Vaccinations are currently being administered in Madison County at Canton High School, 634 Finney Road, Canton, through Friday.

Sign up online at covidvaccine.umc.edu or call 1-877-978-6453. The website is the best option, officials have said.

In total, 184,616 confirmed cases and 113,829 probable cases for a total of 298,445 COVID-19 cases and 6,845 deaths have been reported in the state since last March.