The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently amended the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act Declaration to allow more qualified professionals to serve as COVID-19 vaccinators. This action surpasses current Missouri standing orders for vaccine administration and authorized additional categories of qualified professionals to prescribe, dispense, and administer COVID-19 vaccines anywhere in […]
During Children’s Dental Health Month, dentists are urging folks to keep up a regular schedule of care to prevent future dental issues, unless they live in an area with uncontrolled or high community spread of COVID-19. By age five, nearly half of all children have at least one cavity – but in the last year, […]
Governor Mike Parson has announced the activation of Phase 1B – Tier 1 of Missouri’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan. Federal partners have informed the state that they plan to significantly increase vaccine supply next week and that individuals 65 and older and those with the presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions should be […]
The Grundy County Health Department this week received its first of two anticipated deliveries of Pfizer vaccine for individuals in Tier 1A. The Tier 1A group includes patient-facing health care providers and staff, such as emergency medical services, physicians, nurses, optometrists, dentists, pharmacists, chiropractors, and community health workers. The health department has been working to […]
Livingston County Health Center received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to the Tier 1A Population in the county. The CDC defines Tier 1A as “Paid and unpaid people serving in healthcare settings who have the potential for direct or indirect exposure to patients or infectious materials and cannot work from […]
Hospitals and health departments in the state have reported immunizing their employees and front line workers with a COVID-19 vaccine. Grundy County Health Department Administrator Elizabeth Gibson reports no doses of a COVID-19 vaccine are yet available at the health department for its employees. The health department is working on getting a vaccine for individuals […]
Missouri could let dentists volunteer as vaccinators during emergencies. State Representative Danny Busick, a Republican from northern Missouri’s Newtown, has filed legislation that would add dentists to the list of professionals allowed to help in the fight against COVID-19. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports other states are also considering whether dentists should be allowed to […]
While Missouri has a severe shortage of rural physicians, one southeast Missouri state lawmaker says his area also needs more doctors who live there. State Rep. Herman Morse, R-Dexter, says that when he moved to Stoddard County in the mid-1970s, there were 15 to 20 doctors who lived in the county. “Right now, there’s one […]
It’s “Give Kids a Smile Day,” when dozens of dentists provide free teeth cleaning to youngsters throughout Missouri. Dental disease is the most common chronic childhood illness, and one in five Missouri third-graders has untreated tooth decay. Kansas City area Pediatric Dentist Dr. Aaron Bumann says if left untreated, tooth decay can result in problems with eating, […]
Summer is a time when kids might get away with less sleep and eat fewer meals, but it’s not a time dental health should be ignored. In 2016, Missouri’s Kids Count found that 73 percent of the state’s kids had teeth considered in excellent or very good condition. Program director Tracy Greever-Rice said that’s despite […]
