St. Louis Public Radio
Pharmacist Jennifer Kolkmeyer prepares doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine at Christian Hospital in St. Louis in March. As of mid-April, nearly one-third of Missouri residents have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
The number of new coronavirus cases in the St. Louis region is rising after weeks of stable numbers.
Public health officials say the region is now in a race to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine before the virus becomes more widespread.
“Right now we are in the most difficult phases of the pandemic,” said Dr. Faisal Khan, director of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health. “Public patience is wearing thin, people are increasingly skeptical, and exhaustion at an emotional level is perhaps building up.”
Missouri and several county health departments are pausing use of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine after CDC/FDA recommendation over blood clot concerns.
After starting the school year mostly virtual, most South County school districts are now back in school in person for four or five days a week.
All students in the Mehlville School District will return to five days of in-person learning in April after an assist from a pharmacy owner alumnus to get the district’s teachers vaccinated. The district is holding two vaccine clinics for all district teachers and staff who want a COVID-19 vaccine, with doses provided by an alumnus, Dr. Tyler Taylor of St. Louis Hills Pharmacy in South City. The second dose will be administered April 18, a day switched to virtual learning for all students to accommodate teachers going to their appointments.
Though the court cannot require its employees, judges, outside attorneys, litigants or jurors to be vaccinated, everyone who enters the courthouse must have their temperature taken, wear a mask at all times and observe social distance. Anyone with a fever of more than 101 degrees will not be allowed into the building.
To conform with sanitation, social distancing and indoor capacity recommendations, three courtrooms will be used for each trial: one to conduct the trial itself; a second for spectators, families, witnesses and media to observe the live proceedings via a closed-circuit video feed; and a third for jury recesses and deliberations.
The St. Louis County Department of Public Health has amended the Safer at Home Order to eliminate curfews for restaurants, bars and casinos. Until today, April 9, the curfew had been midnight.
A third change, effective today, allows those officiating outdoor youth and adult sports to remove their face coverings. Those officiating games indoors must still wear a face covering, as indoor transmission of the COVID-19 virus remains higher than outdoor transmission.
âWe are hopeful that with more people getting vaccinated, we can continue our gradual reopening of St. Louis County, focusing on the safety of our residents and employees,â said County Executive Sam Page.Â