Editorial: Shot in the arm for our community

Last week, the State of Missouri added a COVID-19 vaccine dashboard to its online resources regarding the virus, and the numbers showed Cape Girardeau County leading the state in vaccinations.

Of Missouri's 114 counties, Cape Girardeau County continues to rank in the top three week after week, according to the information outlining where vaccine recipients live.

Upon further inspection, each of our area counties is increasing 3 to 4 percentage points a week, demonstrating our region is steadily increasing the number of vaccinations being given, and remains at the top of the state when it comes to percentage of residents who have received the first vaccine dose.

This accomplishment is a direct result of the hard work and dedication of the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center under the leadership of director Jane Wernsman.

Thank you and hats off to Wernsman and the staff at the health center, SoutheastHEALTH, Saint Francis Healthcare System and Broadway LTC Pharmacy, along with the many volunteers for dedicating time and resources to be sure our communities are being vaccinated in a timely fashion. Additionally, the National Guard-assisted clinic helped vaccinate nearly 2,000 individuals recently at the Show Me Center. That clinic, too, was well organized and executed.

In addition, the Southeast Missourian has received several communications from individuals (both local and from outside the area) detailing and praising the well-organized process of getting vaccinated in Cape County.

Your efforts are appreciated and to be commended.

Find out more information and follow the data on the new dashboard at https://showmestrong.mo.gov/data/public-health/vaccine.