Sumner County Health Department addresses school concerns, availability of boosters, the Delta Variant and vaccination rates
by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow report — Sumner County Health Officer Laura Rettig said her department could only recommend to the Wellington School District if it should have shut down.
The Wellington school district closed its doors due to a high number of positive tests that started at Wellington’s Eisenhower Elementary on Thursday of last week. USD 353 has been on “shut down” for this week and will remain so until it reopens on Tuesday, Sept. 7.
The Wellington school board will be holding a special meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday night at the Wellington High School auditorium to address several COVID-19 issues.
Rettig said contrary to rumors, the SCHD does not have the authority to shut down the school district but can only recommend to the school administration. She said the administration took their advice.
She said the SCHD is recommending that Wellington USD 353 return to a mask mandate when school is in session next Tuesday.
“But we have always recommended a mask mandate,” Rettig said.
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In other SCHD news:
•There have been questions concerning when the booster shot, the third shot in the series of COVID-19 vaccinations will be available. Rettig said those shots will only be available to those who are immuno-compromised – which includes patients in a weakened state due to cancer or other life-threatening medical conditions. As far as the availability of booster shots in a series of Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, they will not be available until approved by the FDA. She expects that to happen sometime in late September.
•People can still get COVID-19 vaccinations at the health department on Wednesdays. There is Moderna (age 18+) in stock and the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen (age 18+). There are no Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (age 12+) at the health department but there is Pfizer at two Sumner County pharmacies. For more information call 620-326-2774.
Other places where the vaccine is available in Sumner County:
- Wellington Dillons Pharmacy (620-326-5981).
- Conway Springs Freeman Pharmacy (620)456-2220. (Currently, Pfizer only).
• Rettig said the largest number of COVID-19 cases in Sumner County is now the Delta Variant and the SCHD is seeing more breakthrough cases due to that variant.
• Rettig did think Sumner County has a higher vaccination rate than the 40 percent that has been reported by the KDHE.
“They have not reported the number of people who have gone down to get vaccinated in Oklahoma,” she said. “We also do not know about the numbers reported by the nursing homes at the federal level.”
