COVID-19 vaccines have made a difference for young athletes and sports this summer and fall.
According to Dr. David Smith, medical director of youth sports medicine, summer and fall looks more normal for youth sports, with the availability of vaccines for those 12 and older. He discussed youth sports at the Wednesday morning media update at the University of Kansas Health System.
He serves on the Kansas State High School Activities Association Sports Medicine Advisory Committee.
Occasionally, there have been reports of parents who didn’t cooperate with contact tracing involving their children in sports activities.
Some young athletes may think that if people find out they are positive for COVID-19, then the athlete will have to stay out for 10 days, some other members of the team who were exposed may not get to play and the team will be mad at them.
However, Dr. Smith said honesty is the best policy, and if people think their children have been exposed, they should get them tested.
“If not for yourself, do it for those you’re around,” he said.
He also said when he meets someone who is not convinced to get their young athlete vaccinated, he tries to sit down and talk to them about their concerns. It’s better to talk to your doctor about your concerns than to consult the internet, he said.
Free walk-in vaccinations available
The Kansas National Guard Armory at 100 S. 20th (near 18th and Ridge) will be open for free walk-in vaccinations for everyone 12 and older from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, June 17. The vaccines are through the Unified Government Health Department.
Free vaccines also are available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday at the Vibrant Health Argentine location, 1428 S. 32nd St., Kansas City, Kansas.
People may also schedule vaccinations at WycoVaccines.org. Residents may request rides to the vaccination clinic through a form on the same website.
The Unified Government Health Department vaccination hours changed recently. To see the schedule and more information about vaccinations, visit WycoVaccines.org or https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.
Those who receive COVID-19 vaccinations are asked to consider bringing an ID to make the process go faster.
The Health Department is doing more mobile COVID-19 vaccinations, and people may request vaccines to be given at different sites in the community by going to WycoVaccines.org and clicking on “mobile vaccine request.” People also may request a ride to vaccination sites on the same page.
Those who wish to schedule an appointment may use the Health Department’s self-scheduling tool at WycoVaccines.org and click on a blue button that says, “Click here to schedule an appointment online.” The page is available in Spanish by clicking at the top of the page. Walk-in appointments also are welcome.
Those who don’t have an internet connection may call 3-1-1 or 913-573-5311 for assistance in scheduling their vaccination appointment time and date.
To see more information about Health Department vaccinations and next week’s schedule, visit WycoVaccines.org.
Other sites available for vaccinations
Vaccinations at KU Health System are open to the public. Current patients may use MyChart to make an appointment. Others may call 913-588-1227 or visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine to make an appointment to get vaccinated. KU Health System currently is vaccinating residents of Kansas and Missouri who are 12 or older, by appointment only. Those under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout the appointment.
There are also pharmacies giving free COVID-19 vaccinations in Wyandotte County by appointment, when available. These include Price Chopper and Hen House pharmacies, which are now also accepting walk-in vaccinations or appointments, and are starting vaccinations for age 12 and up at those pharmacies that are giving Pfizer vaccine (see https://www.ballsfoodspharmacy.com/).
CVS has announced walk-in appointments for COVID-19 vaccine at some of its stores. Those interested in getting a vaccination at a CVS pharmacy are asked to visit a CVS website in order to make sure there is vaccine available. The website is at www.cvs.com/. Walgreens and Walmart also were listed on www.vaccines.gov as giving vaccinations.
Other pharmacies and sites giving vaccines are listed at www.vaccines.gov. The website also tells whether vaccines are in stock at the locations.
Case numbers reported
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, reported the COVID-19 case numbers at the University of Kansas Health System were steady on Wednesday morning. Fifteen active COVID-19 patients were being treated at the hospital, the same as Tuesday. Two patients were in the intensive care unit, no change. One was on a ventilator, the same as Tuesday. Ten other patients were still in the hospital, in the recovery phase, an increase of three.. There were 25 total COVID-19 patients, an increase of three. Only one of the active patients is fully vaccinated, and that patient was COVID-positive since December and is very severely immunosuppressed. Another unvaccinated patient was on life support in the ICU. Other hospitals in the Kansas City area were seeing a slight increase in patients.
Wyandotte County reported an increase of 13 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, June 16, for a cumulative 18,953 cases, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was a cumulative total of 299 deaths reported, no change.
The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 175,739 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Wednesday in the Kansas City region. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 52.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 316,343 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Wednesday, June 16, an increase of 329 cases since Monday. There were a total of 5,125 cumulative deaths reported statewide, an increase of three.
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Wednesday night reported 33,498,506 cumulative COVID-19 cases in the United States, with 600,653 total deaths reported nationwide. There were 11,304 new cases nationwide and 339 new deaths nationwide.
States with high numbers of new cases were Texas, 1,338; California, 1,261; Missouri, 582; Louisiana, 559; and Washington, 433.
Countries with high numbers of new cases were Brazil, 80,609; India, 62,224; Argentina, 27,260; Colombia, 22,677; and U.S., 11,304.
Free testing available
Free COVID-19 testing is available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Vibrant Health Cordell D. Meeks Jr. Clinic, formerly Children’s Mercy West, 4313 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
Free COVID-19 testing will be offered from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 16, at the former Kmart store, 7836 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas, at the Health Department’s central location.
Wyandotte County residents may contact the Health Department at wycohelp.org to sign up for a test to be delivered to their home.
For more details about free COVID-19 testing offered by the UG Health Department, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19, https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept or call 3-1-1.
The Health Department’s general contact page is at https://www.wycokck.org/Health/Contact.aspx. The department’s Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.
Testing sites are at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19. There are more test sites listed on this page.
Saliva testing is now offered at the UG Health Department. For more information, visit https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/02042021-ugphd-saliva-testing-available.pdf.
The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/328302978916960.
The University of Kansas Health System COVID-19 update page is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/330310795391910.
A vaccine report for the state of Kansas is at
https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/123/Vaccine-Historical-Document-22521?bidId=.
The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.
The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.
The Wyandotte County page on the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 website is at https://bao.arcgis.com/covid-19/jhu/county/20209.html.
The Johns Hopkins Data in Motion, a presentation on critical COVID-19 data in the past 24 hours, is at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/covid-19-daily-video.