Mississippi gives 1 millionth dose of COVID vaccine. Are cases still declining?
Gov. Tate Reeves went to the Trustmark Park vaccine site in Pearl in Monday to announce that Mississippi now has given 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
“Right now, Mississippi is one of the only states in the nation where any person about the age of 16 who wants to get a shot can get a shot,” he said.
The vaccine is the hope of a return to more normalcy, and Reeves said he will lead the effort to convince more people to get the shot.
The next 1 million shots is going to be more difficult to get than the first million, he said.
Reeves said that over the weekend he saw his grandmother for the first time in a year.
“We’re both fully vaccinated now,” he said.
In Mississippi and South Mississippi, there are now more people fully vaccinated than the number of people who have tested positive since the pandemic began.
The State Department of Health reported Monday that 646,945 people have had at least one dose and 364,308 are fully vaccinated.
Most of those doses have come through the health department’s drive-thru sites, said State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs. He asked Mississippians to continue to wear masks in public and follow “common-sense precautions.”
Cases continue to decline
The rate of new COVID-19 cases is still declining since the peak in mid-January, and on Monday, Mississippi hit its lowest weekly average of new cases since June.
Monday’s seven-day average of new cases was 293, down from a high of 2,432 on Jan. 10. The last time it was this low was June 16, just three months into the pandemic.
From a record 3,255 new cases reported on a single day in Mississippi on Jan. 7, the number of new people testing positive Monday was 95.
The most deaths reported in a single day in Mississippi was 98 on Jan. 12, although some of those deaths may have been from the review of prior death certificates. On Monday, there were zero new deaths reported in Mississippi.
Vaccinations climbing
Coronavirus cases started to decline after the post-holiday peak and even before the vaccine had time to impact the numbers, said Dobbs.
Each week, more people in Mississippi become fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Total residents fully vaccinated with one shot of Johnson & Johnson or two doses of Moderna or Pfizer by county are:
- George — 2,948 (12% of population)
- Hancock —4,143 (9%)
- Harrison —22,254 (11%)
- Jackson — 15,628 (11%)
- Pearl River — 6,529 (13%)
- Stone — 2,319 (13%)
- South Mississippi — 53,821 (11%)
- Mississippi — 363,167 (11%)
To show the progress, on March 7 the number of those totally vaccinated in the state was 247,000.
Memorial Hospital is accepting appointments for the first dose Pfizer vaccinations, the only vaccine approved for those 16-18 years of age.
The vaccine will be given from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, March 29 at Diamondhead City Hall to ages 16 and older. Call the COVID-19 hotline at 228-867-5000 seven days a week
Hospitalizations drop dramatically
Two months ago, it was hard to find an open ICU bed in many areas of Mississippi and health officials blamed the number of people traveling over Thanksgiving and Christmas for the spike.
On Monday, hospitalizations reached the lowest levels since last spring.
Through March 19:
- 256 people statewide are hospitalized for COVID-19, down from the peak of 1,444 on Jan. 4
- 71 people are in ICU, down from the peak of 360 on Jan. 13
- 38 are on ventilators compared to the peak of 230 on Jan. 6
COVID-19 totals since start of pandemic
In just over a year, Mississippi has seen 6,956 deaths and 302,932 residents testing positive since the first case of the coronavirus was reported on March 11, 2020.
Total cases and deaths by county now stand at:
- George — 2,355 cases, 45 deaths
- Hancock —3,623, cases, 83 deaths
- Harrison —17,229 cases, 298 deaths
- Jackson — 12,946 cases, 236 deaths
- Pearl River — 4,332 cases, 133 deaths
- Stone — 1,762 cases, 30 deaths
- South Mississippi — 42,247 cases, 825 deaths
- Mississippi — 302,932 cases, 6,956 deaths
This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 3:30 PM.
