{Editor’s Note: We updated this story on July 29 to reflect that COVID vaccine is available at the Moore County Health Department. Thanks to Pam Browning, RN the Public Health County Director for Moore, Coffee, and Lincoln counties for letting us know. You can always contact the Moore County Health Department at 931-759-4251 for the most up to date information.}
LOCAL NEWS — According to the Tennessee Department of Health, 16 Moore County residents tested positive for COVID 19 so far in the month of July including 13 new diagnosis in just the last seven days.
According to Covid Act Now, Moore County ranks number two in the state in Daily New Cases per 100,000 people with Crockett County ranked number 1. Moore County continues to report the lowest vaccination rate in the state at just 18 percent.
On Friday, Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey confirmed that the Delta variant now exists as the dominate strain in Tennessee.
“I suspect it is now approaching the national penetration of that variant, which is close to 80 percent,” she said. “I expect the majority of infections here in Tennessee are the Delta variant.”
98% of deaths are unvaccinated
Like other states such as Florida, Arkansas, and Alabama who recently saw a sharp uptick in new COVID cases, hospitalizations, and death, Tennessee health officials report that almost all of the cases of severe illness resulting in either hospitalization and/or death are among the unvaccinated.
According to Piercey, about 97 percent of all hospitalizations and over 98 percent of all deaths are among the unvaccinated.
Reported breakthrough cases
Health officials do report breakthrough cases among vaccinated Tennesseans. The state reported 1,000 breakthrough cases among those who are fully vaccinated. Of those, nearly half were folks over the age of 60 and many were immune compromised. Piercey stated that most of the breakthrough cases presented as a asymptomatic but there have been 195 hospitalizations and 27 deaths.
“Let’s keep this in perspective here,” Piercey told media on Friday. “We never expected this vaccine to be 100 percent effective. We were shooting for or expecting kind of 92 to 95 percent effectiveness. We’re actually seeing much, much higher than that here, but there are some [breakthrough] cases.”
Phil Valentine hospitalized with COVID
On Friday, numerous local media outlets reported that Conservative radio host Phil Valentine — a vocal vaccine skeptic — sat “fighting for his life” in a Williamson County hospital with COVID-19. Mark Valentine, gave an interview with his brother’s radio station SuperTalk 99.7, stating that Phil remained in critical care on supplemental oxygen.
“First of all, he’s regretful that he wasn’t a more vocal advocate of the vaccination,” Mark Valentine said of his brother. “For those listening, I know if he were able to tell you this, he would tell you to go get vaccinated. Quit worrying about the politics. Quit worrying about all the conspiracy theories.”
Phil Valentine remained in critical condition on Sunday.
How to get a vaccination
Vaccinations are free to all Tennesseans aged 12 and older. Individuals do not need insurance to receive a vaccine and there are no out-of-pocket costs. The Tennessee Department of Health recommends that citizens go to Vacinnes.gov to locate a vaccine appointment.
According to the site, the Moore County Health Department does currently have vaccine. Vaccination appointments are also available at the Coffee County Health Department, Lincoln County Health Department, as well as numerous area Walmart, Kroger, Publix, Walgreens, and CVS stores. Consult the website for the most up-to-date information. •
{The Lynchburg Times is the only independently owned and operated newspaper in Lynchburg. We cover Metro Moore County government, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Nearest Green Distillery, Tims Ford State Park, Motlow State Community College, Moore County High School, Moore County Middle School, Lynchburg Elementary, Raider Sports, plus regional and state news.}