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North Central District Health Department personnel have announced walk-in clinic dates and times at sites throughout the district.

NCDHD will now require insurance card information prior to administering a COVID-19 vaccine. A photocopy of the front and back of the insurance card is necessary.

INdividuals without insurance are still eligible to receive the vaccine.

Anyone who has questions is urged to contact the HCDHD office at 402-446-2406.

Walking-in clinics will be available at the following sites:

Aug. 20: NCDHD office, 422 E. Douglas St., O'Neill, 1 to 4 p.m., all vaccines;

Aug. 24: Avera Creighton Hospital, 1 to 3 p.m., Moderna; Rock County clinic, 1 to 4:15 p.m., Moderna; Pierce Fairgrounds Pavillion, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., all;

Aug. 25: Greater Sandhills Family Healthcare, Bassett, 9 to 11:30 a.m. and 1 to 4:30 p.m., Moderna; Antelope Memorial Hospital, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Moderna;

Aug. 27: Niobrara Hig School parking lot, 10 to 11 a.m., all; NCDHD office, 422 E. Douglas St., O'Neill, 1 to 4 p.m., all vaccines; O'Neill Armory, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., all;

Aug. 31: Greater Sandhills Family Healthcare, Atkinson, 9 to 11:30 a.m. and 1 to 4:30 p.m., Moderna and Avera Creighton Hospital, 1 to 3 p.m., Moderna.

Centers for Disease Control signed the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendation, endorsing the use of an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine for people with moderately to severely compromised immune systems, after an initial two-dose vaccine series. CDC's recommendation are people with a range of conditions, such as recipients of organ or stem cell transplants, people with advance or untreated HIV infection, active recipients of treatment for cancer and people taking some medications that weaken the immune system, and others.

A full list of conditions can be found on the CDC's website https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/immuno.html.

The additional dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine should be the same vaccine as the initial series and administered at least four weeks after completing a primary mRNA COVID-19 vaccine series. CDC does not recommend additional doses or booster shots for any other population currently. NCDHD is pending updated orders to begin administering this booster shot timely. Monitor media for the quickest update on order approvals.

Individuals who have received a first dose of COVID vaccine through an NCDHD clinic and have not received a call to schedule a second dose should call the office.

Still have questions regarding the vaccines? Getvaccineanswers.org is a great resource for wanting to know more and getting informed.

Need a COVID test? Testing can most readily be accessed through traditional healthcare access points as of July 1.

NCDHD has been releasing new videos with the series called COVID CHAT to address COVID-related misconceptions, facts, frequently asked questions and more.Videos are uploaded each Thursday at 4 p.m.

Courtesy photo

Case count update as of Aug. 16, at 3 p.m., includes: 4,664 total cases, 4,483 recoveries, 75 deaths and 74 total cases reported in the last 14 days. NCDHD is no longer able to release county-based data in the district due to HIPAA standards. Individuals interested in county-based data, may access it on the CDC website at https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view. Keep in mind this data tracker is updated once weekly and it does not keep count of any type of antigen or rapid test. It only has data based on PCR tests.

vaccine by the numbers from all sources including federal reporting: Bureau of Prisons, Department of Defense Indian Health Service and Veterans Health Administration

• total doses administered: 35,422;

• fully vaccinated: 17,605;

• partially vaccinate: 211;

• 16+ vaccinated: 49%; and

• total NCDHD district population vaccinated: 39.5%.