Riley County COVID cases continue to climb once again, with KDHE and Riley County health officials confirming Wednesday that it recorded 140 new cases between Aug. 20 and Aug. 26.
In its latest weekly report, the Riley County Health Department said the incidence rate remains in the HIGH category at 188.8. Ascension Via Christi reported it was caring for just one positive patient Wednesday being treated in the medical ward. A 95-year-old unvaccinated woman, who died Aug. 8, became the 94th known COVID-related death in Riley County.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorizations of the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines which allows the use of the bivalent vaccines or “updated boosters,” which contain two messenger RNA components of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to promote immune responses to the original COVID-19 strains as well as the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the Omicron variant.
The health department anticipates the boosters becoming available in the latter half of September.
Who is eligible to receive a single booster dose and when:
- Individuals 18 years of age and older are eligible for a single booster dose of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent if it has been at least two months since they have completed primary vaccination or have received the most recent booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine.
- Individuals 12 years of age and older are eligible for a single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent if it has been at least two months since they have completed primary vaccination or have received the most recent booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine.
