After holiday spike, Mississippi’s new COVID-19 cases are under 2,000 for the third day
With the COVID-19 vaccination rollout speeding up and then quickly hitting a wall in Mississippi, there were 1,948 new cases and 41 deaths reported by the State Department of Health on Thursday.
A day after Gov. Tate Reeves expanded availability to those 65 and older and with pre-existing conditions, MSDH announced Wednesday that all available doses had been spoken for, and it won’t be able to schedule more vaccine appointments until next month.
However, the state has enough doses for the second shot for everyone who either has already been vaccinated or is scheduled to be vaccinated.
“If you have a dose already, your second shot should be available as planned,” State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs tweeted Wednesday night. “You will be allowed to schedule a follow-up appointment.
He said the state has seen “great success the past 2 weeks but we have a long road ahead.”
“We anticipate a significant increase in vaccination in February.”
Thursday marks the fourth consecutive day that the state has announced fewer than 2,000 new coronavirus cases. The five days before that had an average of 2,728 new cases and two reports over 3,000.
After peaking at 2,432 on Jan. 10, the Mississippi is now averaging 2,051 new cases a day.
There were three new deaths reported in the state’s southernmost six counties on Thursday — all three in Harrison County.
There have been 64 deaths reported in South Mississippi in January.
Statewide, the number of people hospitalized with confirmed cases of the coronavirus was 1,358 as of Jan. 12. The total number of people in intensive care hit an all-time high at 360, including 228 on ventilators.
COVID-19 cases in South Mississippi
George County — 1,959 (22 new cases)
Hancock County — 2,469 (36 new cases)
Harrison County — 12,806 (108 new cases)
Jackson County — 9,996 (98 new cases)
Pearl River County — 3,138 (38 new cases)
Stone County — 1,388 (15 new cases)
