The Mississippi State Department of Health announced on Wednesday that people in the state who are 75 years and older are now eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

“We know that people in this age group are at the highest risk for severe illness or hospitalization and also for death,” State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said at a press briefing, “and it’s very important that we offer it to those folks.”

Dobbs said the most immediate way for members of this age group to get vaccinated is to sign up for a vaccination appointment at one of the state’s 18 drive-thru clinics. They can schedule an appointment by visiting https://covidvaccine.umc.edu/ or by calling (877) 978-6453.

As of Wednesday afternoon, there were no available appointment times at the Lauderdale County and Neshoba County drive-thru sites. However, Dobbs said that people can visit any of the state’s drive-thru sites.

He also said that more appointment times will become available in the future.

Dobbs said the state has also started to send COVID-19 vaccines to community health centers and private clinics. The clinics will start by vaccinating their own employees and will then vaccinate people 75 years or older.

Gov. Tate Reeves had said on Monday that older Mississippians would start having access to the vaccine next week, but MSDH ended up allowing them to have access on Wednesday.

Dobbs explained that some appointments were available at the drive-thru sites, and MSDH didn’t want those times to be unused, so the department decided to allow people 75 years or older to use them.

Dobbs said the state will also keep on vaccinating health care workers. Until Wednesday, COVID-19 vaccines had only been available for health care workers and long-term care residents and staff in Mississippi. The state has distributed vaccines to hospitals throughout the state, including to Rush Foundation Hospital and Anderson Regional Medical Center. CVS and Walgreens are distributing the vaccine to long-term care facilities in the state. 

This week, Mississippi also started allowing health workers and long-term care residents to use drive-thru clinics for vaccination.

Mississippi continues to see high COVID-19 case numbers. The state reported 2,791 new cases of COVID-19 and 38 new COVID-19 related deaths on Wednesday, bringing the state’s totals to 228,235 cases and 5,013 deaths.

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

Lauderdale County: 48 new cases; 5,217 cases since March. No additional deaths; 171 total deaths since March.

Clarke County: 12 new cases; 1,251 cases since March. No additional deaths; 59 total deaths since March.

Newton County: 24 new cases; 1,701 total cases. No additional deaths; 40 total deaths since March.

Kemper County: 24 new cases; 705 total cases. No additional deaths; 19 total deaths since March.

Neshoba County: 22 new cases; 3,109 total cases. No additional deaths; 144 total deaths since March.

MSDH presumed 182,103 people have recovered from COVID-19. The department also reported that there are 226 ongoing outbreaks of COVID-19 in long-term-care facilities.

As of Wednesday, 30,691 COVID-19 vaccinations had been reported to the Mississippi Immunization Information Exchange. Vaccine providers are required to report COVID-19 vaccinations to this registry within 24 hours of the vaccination.

As of Wednesday, 1,263 vaccinations of Lauderdale County residents had been reported to the registry.

COVID-19 data

County	Total Cases	Total Deaths	Total LTC Facility Cases	Total LTC Facility Deaths
Adams	1868	63	72	15
Alcorn	2340	45	124	19
Amite	903	23	54	7
Attala	1825	52	169	33
Benton	721	21	45	10
Bolivar	3595	96	223	30
Calhoun	1239	18	25	4
Carroll	964	18	46	9
Chickasaw	1693	38	53	15
Choctaw	552	11	1	0
Claiborne	749	22	44	9
Clarke	1251	59	108	29
Clay	1430	30	20	3
Coahoma	2044	52	127	11
Copiah	2253	47	74	9
Covington	1958	68	134	39
De Soto	15586	148	110	22
Forrest	5513	106	222	46
Franklin	620	11	40	2
George	1783	37	48	7
Greene	1019	27	52	6
Grenada	2041	65	153	32
Hancock	2204	56	70	14
Harrison	11518	168	473	58
Hinds	14652	291	731	108
Holmes	1622	67	103	20
Humphreys	763	22	33	8
Issaquena	152	5	0	0
Itawamba	2441	51	124	22
Jackson	9189	164	215	27
Jasper	1533	30	35	2
Jefferson	487	16	22	4
Jefferson Davis	796	24	8	1
Jones	5523	98	213	39
Kemper	705	19	44	9
Lafayette	4456	86	186	51
Lamar	4393	61	51	13
Lauderdale	5217	171	390	88
Lawrence	945	17	27	2
Leake	2145	60	81	12
Lee	8161	125	210	41
Leflore	2788	103	231	49
Lincoln	2721	81	170	36
Lowndes	4761	97	209	43
Madison	7551	146	345	64
Marion	1840	68	156	22
Marshall	3068	63	62	15
Monroe	3241	91	179	53
Montgomery	1027	31	54	9
Neshoba	3109	144	191	55
Newton	1701	40	83	14
Noxubee	1018	20	32	4
Oktibbeha	3618	78	207	34
Panola	3355	71	103	13
Pearl River	2821	87	157	31
Perry	928	31	21	7
Pike	2344	73	118	33
Pontotoc	3321	45	33	3
Prentiss	2249	45	99	15
Quitman	624	7	0	0
Rankin	9361	178	332	51
Scott	2228	41	37	4
Sharkey	403	17	43	8
Simpson	2161	66	152	19
Smith	1090	20	55	8
Stone	1259	18	78	9
Sunflower	2539	63	105	15
Tallahatchie	1278	33	43	7
Tate	2496	56	80	19
Tippah	2088	42	80	5
Tishomingo	1644	54	101	27
Tunica	783	19	18	2
Union	3078	48	114	17
Walthall	1046	35	67	13
Warren	2997	81	164	37
Washington	4526	119	187	39
Wayne	1786	27	69	11
Webster	842	21	57	11
Wilkinson	542	24	24	5
Winston	1899	58	105	31
Yalobusha	1065	33	81	22
Yazoo	2190	51	139	18
Total	228,235	5,013	9,541	1,754