Mississippians 50 years and older eligible for COVID-19 vaccine

Anne Snabes, The Meridian Star, Miss.
·5 min read

Mar. 5—All people 50 years and older are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Mississippi.

In a Thursday press release, the Mississippi State Department of Health said that 94% of COVID-19 related deaths and 80% of COVID-19 related hospitalizations in Mississippi have been among those 50 years and older.

Some people 50 years or older have already received the vaccine in Mississippi, because they fell into at least one of the groups already eligible for the vaccine.

K-12 school employees, preschool or childcare employees, first responders, health care personnel, people with certain medical conditions and people who are at least 65 years old have been eligible for COVID-19 vaccination in the state.

"So far, about 350,000 persons aged 50 years and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the state," said Dr. Paul Byers, the state epidemiologist, in a press release. "We are expanding our eligibility to this age group to increase the access to vaccination in this vulnerable population and prevent hospitalizations and deaths."

Earlier this week, Gov. Tate Reeves announced that the county mask mandates in Mississippi would be lifted and businesses would be allowed to operate at full capacity starting on Wednesday, March 3. Mayor Percy Bland said, though, that he is keeping the City of Meridian's mask mandate until it expires at the end of the month, at which time he will review it.

COVID-19 case and death numbers

Mississippi reported on Friday 591 new cases of the coronavirus and 19 additional COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the state's totals to 296,745 cases and 6,783 deaths.

Lauderdale County reported nine new cases of COVID-19 and no additional COVID-19 related deaths on Friday, bringing the county's totals to 6,856 cases and 227 deaths.

Mississippi has been vaccinating its residents. The Mississippi State Department of Health reported on Thursday that 690,874 total doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in Mississippi. 20,252 total doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered to Lauderdale County residents. These numbers include both first and second doses.

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

Clarke County: six new cases; 1,702 total cases since March 2020. One additional death, which occurred between Dec. 12 and Feb. 25 and was identified from death certificate reports; 73 total deaths since March 2020.

Newton County: ten new cases; 2,322 total cases. No additional deaths; 52 total deaths since March 2020.

Kemper County: four new cases; 908 total cases. No additional deaths; 23 total deaths since March 2020.

Neshoba County: 14 new cases; 3,836 total cases. No additional deaths; 170 total deaths since March 2020.

MSDH presumed that 278,162 people in Mississippi had recovered from COVID-19 as of March 1. The department also reported that there are 52 ongoing outbreaks of COVID-19 in long-term-care facilities.

COVID-19 data

County Total Cases Total Deaths Total LTC Facility Cases Total LTC Facility Deaths

Adams 2353 78 72 15

Alcorn 2925 63 130 20

Amite 1124 35 55 8

Attala 2068 71 175 36

Benton 940 24 45 10

Bolivar 4626 124 232 31

Calhoun 1586 28 36 4

Carroll 1193 25 51 10

Chickasaw 2017 53 60 15

Choctaw 699 17 1 0

Claiborne 990 29 45 9

Clarke 1702 73 123 31

Clay 1793 51 38 5

Coahoma 2827 69 129 11

Copiah 2797 59 81 11

Covington 2499 80 136 39

De Soto 19774 231 113 24

Forrest 7272 138 226 51

Franklin 764 20 40 4

George 2324 45 59 7

Greene 1281 33 52 6

Grenada 2487 78 155 32

Hancock 3519 78 69 14

Harrison 16850 282 484 65

Hinds 18916 394 805 131

Holmes 1827 70 104 20

Humphreys 931 28 34 8

Issaquena 167 6 0 0

Itawamba 2905 75 134 23

Jackson 12700 230 238 34

Jasper 2139 45 43 2

Jefferson 628 27 40 7

Jefferson Davis 1027 31 8 1

Jones 8017 148 219 41

Kemper 908 23 44 9

Lafayette 5761 114 187 55

Lamar 5920 81 53 13

Lauderdale 6856 227 442 99

Lawrence 1208 21 27 2

Leake 2535 72 88 15

Lee 9711 162 222 41

Leflore 3394 120 237 52

Lincoln 3590 104 186 39

Lowndes 6051 140 256 62

Madison 9499 204 365 69

Marion 2528 78 158 24

Marshall 4051 92 64 15

Monroe 3994 128 190 55

Montgomery 1231 40 54 9

Neshoba 3836 170 203 59

Newton 2322 52 87 15

Noxubee 1233 31 35 6

Oktibbeha 4426 94 222 36

Panola 4331 98 103 14

Pearl River 4205 132 188 36

Perry 1227 35 21 7

Pike 3019 96 133 35

Pontotoc 4110 71 86 12

Prentiss 2712 58 99 15

Quitman 774 14 0 0

Rankin 12823 265 392 61

Scott 2957 71 115 18

Sharkey 492 17 43 8

Simpson 2771 80 157 20

Smith 1536 33 65 8

Stone 1731 29 84 14

Sunflower 3197 86 121 20

Tallahatchie 1717 39 50 7

Tate 3035 74 80 19

Tippah 2800 65 119 13

Tishomingo 2130 65 102 27

Tunica 996 24 18 2

Union 3966 74 131 23

Walthall 1248 40 69 13

Warren 4143 115 170 37

Washington 5229 130 191 39

Wayne 2548 41 69 11

Webster 1111 32 61 12

Wilkinson 625 27 25 5

Winston 2221 79 130 39

Yalobusha 1456 36 82 22

Yazoo 2914 66 139 18

Total 296,745 6,783 10,395