While they say there are many reasons to be optimistic, there are still obstacles looming for hospital leaders in Missouri amid Medicaid expansion.

Throughout the summer, Missouri was an early hotspot for the delta variant of the coronavirus. This led to more unvaccinated young people getting severely ill, and as more young people got sick – more expectant mothers did too.

An interview with Darin Preis, executive director of Central Missouri Community Action, on the outreach work his group is doing on Medicaid expansion.

While the state is accepting applications for Medicaid coverage under expanded eligibility, it says it can't start processing those applications before October 1.

Boone County has one of the highest vaccination rates in Missouri, according to the Department of Health & Senior Services. 49.0 percent of the county has completed their vaccine regiment, and 55.5 percent have at least begun the process.

Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem issued an injunction prohibiting the state from denying applications of people who qualify for Medicaid under expanded eligibility.

Earlier this year, mass COVID-19 vaccination events in Columbia served thousands of people at locations like Memorial Stadium and Columbia Mall. But as those numbers dwindled and delta variant cases began to surge, health officials changed their focus to vaccination outreach clinics in the community.

Missouri has now been a hotspot for new COVID-19 infections for more than a month – largely due to the delta variant. This variant is much easier to spread and is causing more serious disease in younger people.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has expressed growing concerns about a drop in orders for vaccines for routine childhood inoculations.

COVID-19 case numbers continue to increase across the state, and some health departments are now reporting new data, like “breakthrough cases” and “reinfections” So, what do those actually mean?