COVID-19 Vaccinations Slow Down Locally; New Cases Still Reported

While Lafayette County remains one of the top counties in the state for the number of people who have received the COVID-19 vaccination, those figures have become stagnant over the last two weeks.

Two weeks ago, Lafayette County had 44 percent of its population vaccinated with at least the first shot and 41 percent were fully vaccinated.

On Tuesday, Oxford Emergency Management Coordinator Jimmy Allgood reported those percentages have not changed.

“We did see an uptick last week but it’s slowing down across the state,” he said. “We are urging people to please go get vaccinated. They (vaccinations) are readily available.”

The Mississippi State Department of Health continues to provide free vaccinations for those 12 years old and up at the Oxford Conference Center on a walk-in basis – appointments are not needed.

For those who do not have transportation to the Conference Center, Oxford University Transit is working with the MSDH to provide free rides to people who are homebound. Anyone who needs a ride to a vaccination site can call OUT at 662-234-3540 or send an email to COVIDHomebound@msdh.ms.gov.

Click here for a listing of MSDH sites and local pharmacies and clinics offering the vaccination.

In Mississippi, 949,352 people are fully vaccinated and 1,069,109 have received at least one shot.

According to the MSDH, the age group that has received the highest number of vaccinations are those 50 to 64 years old with those 65-74 being the second highest age group.

Since the vaccination became available for children 12-16, 10,555 children have received at least one shot and 7,642 have received both shots.

While new cases of COVID-19 are slowing down locally and across the state, there are still new cases daily.

On Tuesday in Lafayette County, there were a total of 6,301 cases since March 2020 and 120 deaths. As of Friday, there are 12 new cases, bringing the total to 6,313 cases and one new death, bringing the total of COVID-19-related deaths to 121 in Lafayette County since the pandemic began.

“We’re definitely seeing a downward trend of new cases,” Allgood said.

Allgood reported as of Tuesday, there were six COVID-19 patients in Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi in Oxford, with three of the patients in the ICU.