 Friday, March 12, 2021
Top COVID-19 Takeaways from the Week
LouVax Prioritizing Individuals 60 and Older, Will Transition Fully to 1C
 Friday, Dr. SarahBeth Hartlage, Associate Medical Director of Metro Health and Wellness announced expansion of vaccine eligibility for individuals in tier 1C.
Dr. Hartlage said the decision to transition fully to 1C aligns with the state. It includes people ages 16-59 with qualifying medical conditions and essential employees.
While the state will open to 1C personnel, Dr. Hartlage said LouVax will continue its prioritization of individuals age 60 and up.
"Our primary focus right now is adults 60 and older," she said. "We are hopeful we can finish this group by the end of March before transitioning to the remainder of 1C."
Here are the key stats for vaccinations in Metro Louisville:
- Citywide, 276,082 total doses have been administered between the LouVax site and its healthcare system community partners, Norton Healthcare, UofL Health and Baptist Health. Of that total number, 98,012 have completed both doses.
- 36% of residents have received at minimum the first dose and 13% have completed the vaccine series.
- Through its LouVax site, the Louisville Department of Public Health and Wellness has given 59,162 doses to date.
Also on Friday, the LouVax site focused its efforts on vaccinating international community leaders and members arriving for their second dose of the Moderna Vaccine.
Dr. Haleh Karimi, lecturer at the University of Louisville College of Business uses her influence to ensure immigrant populations are aware of COVID-19 resources.
"This past year the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased health issues such as depression and suicide," Dr. Karimi said. "In order to get back to some kind of normalcy this is the time to take the responsibility and do what we can to make our society a bit safer."
For next week, LouVax will continue vaccinations for individuals age 60 and older. In addition Metro Health and Wellness along with community partners will ramp up mobile missions to administer the Janssen vaccine to homeless populations and other hard-to-reach groups.
Watch the vaccination update from the LouVax site at Broadbent Arena HERE. For more information on how to schedule appointments CLICK HERE.
New CDC Guidelines for Fully Vaccinated Individuals
 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines for individuals fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose in a two-shot series with Pfizer and Modern, or two weeks after the one-shot Janssen vaccine.
The new guidance states that if you have been fully vaccinated:
- You can gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask.
- You can gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one household without masks, unless those people and household inhabitants have an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
- If you’ve been around someone who has COVID-19, you do not need to stay away from others or get tested unless you have symptoms.
Individuals that have not been fully vaccinated should continue taking steps to protect themselves by wearing masks, staying 6 feet apart and avoiding crowds.
Additionally, people should try to delay domestic and international travel and continue to follow CDC requirements and recommendations for travel if they do.
“This is a lot of encouragement with the safeness of the vaccine and what we’re able to do once fully vaccinated," said Dr. Sarah Moyer, Director of the Department of Public Health and Wellness and Chief Health Strategist. “Still we should continue to protect ourselves and our community by wearing masks, staying socially distant and be mindful that COVID is still around us."
View the CDC's guidelines for individuals that have been fully vaccinated HERE.
COVID Cases Decline for Tenth Consecutive Week
 On Tuesday, Dr. Sarah Moyer, reflected on the one-year anniversary of the city's first reported COVID-19 case.
Dr. Moyer said she was thankful for the medical experts, public health employees and countless others that worked tirelessly without complaining to protect residents and the community against a fast-moving virus.
"I think about how much our lives have changed, especially the 953 families who lost a loved one and the 73,367 Louisvillians who have had COVID," Dr. Moyer said. "I'm grateful for how quickly medical experts moved in learning about COVID. We went from stay-at-home guidance, wearing masks and washing hands to just one year later the CDC releasing guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals being able to have small gatherings again. We pulled many of my team from their normal jobs to help with special areas of the response. Others have kept many of our services going in spite of the pandemic. None have complained and all have served our community with grit, dedication and compassion."
Here are the COVID-19 data metrics for the week of March 12, 2021:
- 1,023 positive cases reported
- 19.1 cases per 100,000 population
To view the weekly COVID update with city and public health officials CLICK HERE. For information on where to get tested for COVID-19 in Louisville CLICK HERE.
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