The Audrain County Health Department is preparing to kick start flu clinics in September for all Audrain County students.

“We got a grant yesterday to increase [our] mobile transport capacity on vaccines,” Health Administrator Sandra Hewlett said in a weekly teleconference Wednesday with county business, government, education, emergency and health care leaders.

The department will use computerized coolers that hold the vaccine as it is transported from location to location for the clinics.

“They stay cool for up to 72 hours once they are charged. I can transport about 2,000 vaccines at a time,” Hewlett said. “It really does provide us the capability of covering the areas in our county, whether it is a large-scale employer or our schools.”

Parents will receive an information and consent form, including a request for insurance information. Uninsured or underinsured students will receive the flu vaccine for free, Hewlett said.

Students will receive the flu vaccine at the schools and health department staff will go grade by grade to vaccinate all students, she said.

The department, back in June, was working to secure funding to administer flu vaccines to those 18 and older. The department received criteria the following month from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services on administering flu vaccines to adults.

The department also has incorporated a new epitrack and surveillance system for COVID-19.

“We are reporting our dashboards and press releases Monday through Friday,” Hewlett said. “We are not reporting on weekends because that is when [the state] tends to do most of the work on this new system.”

There is a possibility of co-infection of the seasonal flu and COVID-19, according to the American Society for Microbiology. The school flu clinics could prevent co-infection.

Flu and COVID-19 have similar symptoms and so specific testing for each virus is needed to determine if a person has the flu, COVID-19 or both, the society noted.

“The best thing we can do to prepare for the coinciding flu season and global COVID-19 pandemic are get vaccinated against the flu and practice good hand hygiene and social distancing measures,” the society wrote.

Audrain County has 250 total cases of COVID-19, as of Wednesday, with 17 active. There has been one death. The county is averaging two to four new cases per day, which is considerably fewer than other regional counties, Hewlett said.

“We have tested almost 5,500 people in our county. We are over 21% of our population tested,” she said.

OTHER REPORTS

The Audrain County Emergency Management Agency has postponed its Disaster Expo, typically held in September, to March. The postponement actually is a positive as it coincides with National Weather Awareness Month, Emergency Management Director Nick Tietsort said.

The Audrain County Commission is reviewing applications for the second phase of coronavirus relief bill funding, while also preparing for the third phase of fund distribution.

A Missouri Veterans Home employee tested positive but was not in the facility when contagious, Lori Riddle with the home said. Due to the positive test result, residents were quarantined to their floors and individual rooms for two weeks while testing took place. No further cases of COVID-19 presented. Masks were worn during the two-week period, which ended Sunday, Riddle said.