COVID vaccine doses go in less than 24 hours

The only Ruston pharmacy that had the COVID-19 vaccine for the currently eligible group of recipients is out of doses.

A spokesperson for the Prescription Shoppe, located on West Line Avenue, said Thursday the 100 allocated doses were administered in less than 24 hours.

“They went quickly between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning,” Mildred Allen said. “We will receive the follow-up doses, but other than that, we don’t know if we’ll get any more doses. We don’t know anything.”

A limited batch of the Moderna vaccine was made available this week statewide to people over age 70 and expanded categories of health care workers, as well as patients on dialysis. The vaccine is not yet available at local clinics.

Meantime, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases both in Lincoln Parish and statewide continues to climb.

According to the Louisiana Department of Health, cumulative confirmed cases in Lincoln Parish since the start of the pandemic stand at 2,792. That’s an increase of 25 cases from Wednesday to Thursday.

The respiratory virus has also claimed at least one more local victim. LDH reports 76 local COVID deaths with two more deaths likely caused by the virus.

The test positivity rate for the parish is at 9.2% as of the Dec. 30, up more than 3 percentage points from the previous two-week reporting period.

Louisiana remains under a modified Phase Two order aimed at slowing the current third surge of COVID-19. Gov. John Bel Edwards’ order remains in effect until Wednesday. Edwards is expected to announce the next order on Tuesday.