State unveils new vaccine website

AP File Photo

Missourians have a new website, mostopscovid.com, which offers facts about the vaccine, those attending the weekly Butler County COVID briefing Wednesday learned.

Butler County Emergency Management Director Robbie Myers said Gov. Mike Parson was making a call to local officials at the same time as the briefing.

Myers explained the governor announced as the state receives information about the COVID vaccines, the facts will appear on the website.

Parson also asked everyone to continue following the commonsense approach for keeping themselves safe. He asked they wear masks at all times in public, wash their hands multiple times a day, keep at a safe distance of six feet when possible and limit the number at any gathering. When sick or if you have symptoms, stay home and self-isolate from other family members.

Butler County reported 57 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, bringing the number in the county to 3,253 who have been infected since March.

Butler County Health Department Director Emily Goodin said, “We’re still going to continue with scheduled testing at the health department. We’re taking next week off from the mass testing because it’s Christmas. We are just trying to tie up some things, but we will do another mass testing on Dec. 28.”

Goodin said, she should be getting more information on vaccinations tomorrow, and in coming days. Information is limited at this time, officials said.

Myers responded by saying, “there are a lot of balls still up in the air.”

Poplar Bluff Boys and Girls Executive Director Chris Rushin said the club’s attendance numbers are continuing to just inch up ever so slightly.

“My hat is off to the school district,” Rushin said. “All of our kids and our staff are following the COVID protocols. Our kids, less and less of them, are getting quarantined.

“They know about wearing the mask and everything else. So very, very pleased right now with the progress that we’ve made.”

The way the holiday break is happening and with COVID, Rushin said, “We’re going to be doing a deep clean over the next two weeks in all of our facilities. I know the schools will be doing the exact same thing.

“We’re going to clean everything that we have in the facilities that we are cleaning and controlling every day.”

Myers said, “We will go ahead with briefings the next two Wednesdays, Dec. 23 and Dec. 30. We will try to keep up and hope you will join us again next week. When we get vaccination updates, we’ll be sharing those as well.”