Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause affects Scott County clinic

The federal government's decision to pause use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine because of a handful of serious blood clots following a vaccination is affecting some vaccination appointments in the region.

Scott County Health Department had scheduled a J&J vaccine clinic for today. Officials encouraged those who had an appointment to call (573) 471-4044 to discuss options.

Anyone scheduled to receive a J&J vaccine dose should contact their health care provider to determine an alternative.

Virus numbers

Though most county health agencies in the region have stopped regularly reporting virus numbers on their websites and social media channels, Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center is still updating its numbers three times a week.

Cape Girardeau County averaged about 1.6 new cases per day over the past two weeks -- 23 in the 14-day period. The tremendous slowdown in new cases has kept the county's total below 10,000 (9,390 as of Monday). According to the public health center, there were only eight active cases in the county Monday. The virus has killed 133 county residents, but none since early March. The county's 14-day testing positivity rate was 3.2% as of Monday.

Other Missouri counties' virus numbers, according to the state Department of Health and Senior Services:

• Bollinger: 1,064 confirmed cases, 12 deaths, two new cases in past seven days, 4.3% seven-day testing positivity rate
• Perry: 2,094 confirmed cases, 30 deaths, six new cases in past seven days, 6.4% seven-day testing positivity rate
• Scott: 3,912 confirmed cases, 83 deaths, four new cases in past seven days, 2.3% seven-day testing positivity rate
• Stoddard: 2,350 confirmed cases, 37 deaths, two new cases in past seven days, 1.1% seven-day testing positivity rate.

For complete information about the state's COVID-19 response, visit www.showmestrong.mo.gov.

COVID-19 vaccine percentage for Missouri county populations in the area as of Tuesday were:

• Bollinger: 20.8% initiated vaccine regimen; 14.9% completed vaccine regimen
• Cape Girardeau: 30.3% initiated vaccine regimen; 23.4% completed vaccine regimen
• Perry: 23.8% initiated vaccine regimen; 17.3% completed vaccine regimen
• Scott: 28.9% initiated vaccine regimen; 23% completed vaccine regimen
• Stoddard: 22.4% initiated vaccine regimen; 15.9% completed vaccine regimen.