From USA TODAY Network and wire reports
Alabama
Montgomery: Delta is now flying bigger airplanes in and out of the capital city, and it will allow even more people aboard beginning in May. The changes are part of a plan to increase airline capacity in Montgomery toward pre-pandemic levels. The airport reported Delta started the month with bigger aircraft making the airline’s four daily flights between Montgomery and Atlanta, meaning more seats for passengers. Capacity will increase again May 1 when Delta starts allowing middle-seat passengers for the first time this year. One pandemic change that’s not going away is Delta’s new cleaning and sanitation procedures. The airline has announced that they’ll become permanent. Federal guidelines require air travelers to continue wearing masks. American Airlines resumed nonstop flights between Montgomery and Washington, D.C., earlier this month. The airport also offers nonstop flights to Charlotte, North Carolina, and to Dallas.
The use of the popular, one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine for preventing COVID-19 was temporarily halted Tuesday by state health officials because of six U.S. cases of a “rare and severe-type blot clot” among recipients of that vaccine.
A statement from the Illinois Department of Public Health said the department instructed all providers of COVID-19 vaccines in the state to immediately discontinue use of the J&J vaccine at this time “out of an abundance of caution.”
The department said the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for COVID-19 make up the “vast majority of doses on hand” in Illinois. Those vaccines require two doses given several weeks apart to achieve full effectiveness.
Effingham, IL / Effingham Radio
Apr 9, 2021 1:28 PM
Effingham, IL -(Effingham Radio)- HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital, Effingham County Health Department and Jasper County Health Department are once again collaborating on a project to assess the health needs of the residents of Effingham and Jasper counties.
As part of the assessment process, St. Anthony’s and the health departments are asking all county residents to help identify health issue areas through a brief 10-minute online community survey. The feedback provided will help identify priority health issues for inclusion in the Effingham and Jasper County Health Improvement Plan.
Residents can take the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EffinghamJasperCountyAssessment through April 21, 2021. Responses are anonymous.
Political newcomers Buffy Lael-Wolf in Subdistrict 5 and Erica Austin in Subdistrict 6 emerged as victors in Tuesday s District 186 school board races.
Lael-Wolf, 52, a clinical informaticist at Springfield-based Hospital Sisters Health System garnered 654 votes or 52.7% to Mathis 542 votes or 43.7%.
That was with 15 of the 15 precincts reporting.
Mathis served on the board for two years after being appointed in 2019. She is the executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Illinois.
Austin, the deputy director for the office of community care at SIU School of Medicine, won 589 votes or 69.5%. The Southeast High School product held a comfortable advantage throughout the evening.
Tom Shafer finished with 142 votes or 16.8% while another political newcomer, Michael Washington, a former District 186 employee, tallied 90 votes or 10.6 percent.
Effingham, IL / Effingham Radio
Apr 6, 2021 1:32 PM
Effingham, IL -(Effingham Radio)- Millions of people in the United States have received the COVID-19 vaccination since its release in December 2020. Many received the vaccine in an effort to keep themselves and those around them healthy in the midst of the pandemic. Although the public may have concerns about the rapid development of the vaccine, health experts want to alleviate some of the anxieties. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has reported over seven million total doses in Illinois so far.
The COVID vaccine was released nearly a year after COVID-19 spread into a pandemic. Prior to COVID, the record time from lab bench to licensed clinical use of a vaccine had been four years for the mumps vaccine.