State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs is encouraging Mississippians to keep practicing public health measures and not travel during spring break.

During a Mississippi State Medical Association COVID-19 Update on Friday, Dobbs said that people should continue to wear masks in public and avoid social gatherings.

Dobbs also urged caution during spring break.

“That’s what we’ve seen over and over again is when people travel, when people go and visit family and they’re running around … that’s when we see our increases,” he said. “So let’s just be patient.”

Dobbs also discussed the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on Friday. He said the J&J vaccine is effective at preventing severe illness and death from COVID-19, but it is not as effective as the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines at preventing any symptomatic illness from COVID-19.

A Food and Drug Administration panel endorsed the J&J vaccine on Friday, the Associated Press reported. The FDA was expected to make a decision soon about whether to follow the panel’s recommendation and authorize the vaccine for emergency use.

Dobbs said a CDC advisory committee will provide guidelines about where and how the vaccine should be used. He said the Mississippi State Department of Health will have more information on Monday about the J&J vaccine.

COVID-19 case and death numbers

Mississippi reported on Friday 731 new cases of the coronavirus and 25 additional COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the state’s totals to 293,542 cases and 6,638 deaths.

Lauderdale County reported 14 new cases on Friday, bringing the county’s total to 6,798 cases. The county reported one additional COVID-19 related death, which occurred between Feb. 22 and 24. 226 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported in the county since March 2020.

Mississippi has been vaccinating its residents. The Mississippi State Department of Health reported on Thursday that 368,136 people have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Mississippi. Of those people, 179,571 have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

COVID-19 case and death numbers for local counties are listed below.

Clarke County: three new cases; 1,689 total cases since March 2020. No additional deaths; 71 total deaths since March 2020.

Newton County: 16 new cases; 2,263 total cases. One additional death, which occurred between Feb. 22 and 24; 52 total deaths since March.

Kemper County: one new case; 896 total cases. One additional death, which occurred between Feb. 22 and 24; 23 total deaths since March.

Neshoba County: 10 new cases; 3,777 total cases. One additional death, which occurred between Dec. 28 and Feb. 17 and was identified from death certificate reports; 167 total deaths since March.

MSDH presumed that 273,437 people in Mississippi had recovered from COVID-19 as of Feb. 22. The department also reported that there are 76 ongoing outbreaks of COVID-19 in long-term-care facilities.