MS Dept of Health or Mississippi State Department of Health has been administering COVID-19 vaccinations to the citizens all over the city. Since the CoronaVirus widespread, the MS Dept of Health has been under the media’s eyes for its performance towards safeguarding the people of the city. Yet, there have been only a few circumstances only under which the Health Department authorities have come into the spotlight and spoken.
Due to this gap of direct communication between the public and the authorities, it has been challenging for Mississippi people to figure out what’s going on! Hence, we present the top 10 latest updates on the MS Dept of Health. Here we go!
Tate Reeves spoke at the conference on 22nd March 2021
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During a conference on Monday, Reeves came out and talked to the media. Mr Reeves announced that the Mississippi State Department of Health has received and delivered over 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the public. Yet, according to Tate, even after the receival of vaccination, the public shouldn’t stop taking precautions as the risk of COVID-19 widespread in 2021 has doubled-up.
According to the records, 12% of Mississippi’s population has received vaccination for prevention against the disease. Yet, it has not paralleled the average global vaccination rate, which is 13.5%. Apart from that, the state is receiving over 300 cases of COVID-19 in a day. Hence, the fight against the virus is getting challenging by the hour.
MS Dept of Health has a new addition to the team
On 5th March 2021, Dr Daniel Edney from Vicksburg joined the MS Dept of Health. He has been placed in the position of the chief medical officer as well as the regional health officer. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Daniel Edney has keenly focused on finding the cure for the deadly disease.
Earlier, Dr Edney was a part of the American Health Association. He comes from a strong medical background with several promises made to the MSDH team.
MS Dept of Health proposes Telehealth Regulations
According to the latest projects at the hands of the MS Dept of Health, it has taken transparent actions on the telehealth providers. The new regulations set by the MSDH higher authorities state the following:
- Telehealth providing companies (newcomer) must register with the Secretary of State’s Office.
- The telehealth service providers must also register with the MS Dept of Health’s office licensure.
- Validity for each registration will be two years.
- The cost of registration will be $50.
- The provider will receive a non-transferable registration certificate.
- Switching ownership or transferring ownership is only possible via new registration (in the presence of current as well as potentially new telehealth service providers).
Since the beginning of COVID-19, the world has been suffering at a greater level. The business at the hands of telehealth service providers has increased. Thus, the MS Dept of Health takes action against non-licensed or out-of-the-state telehealth medicine providers. Public commentary on the regulations has not received attention from the authorities yet.
MS Dept of Health decides to vaccinate inmates in the prisons
Without a doubt, the continuously wide-spreading coronavirus has caused the world to open their blindfolds and watch out for the safety and security of those who are not often visible to the world – inmates in the prisons. Do you know? MS Dept of Health has become one of the first-in-the-run health associations to vaccinate the inmates in the Mississippi prisons.
According to the statistics, the Mississippi state prison holds over 17 000 inmates. Among which, only 3,000 have received the vaccination. Not only this but once all the inmates receive the vaccination, it will be possible for families and friends to visit their believed ones in prison without a higher risk of spreading the deadly disease. MSDH is using Pfizer and Moderna vaccine for now, which are seemingly effective.
Mississippi is on the verge of defeating COVID-19 widespread
In 2021, all countries, states, and cities expected the COVID-19 widespread to eliminate or at least get less speedy. However, even after the introduction, approval, and receival of vaccination among the public, the widespread has not scaled down. Expect for Texas, Mississippi and Florida. That’s right! In 2020, Florida’s Governor named Ron DeSantis, received a lot of criticism from the countrywide government for not putting “too many restrictions” on the public.
Indeed, a few weeks in the past, Mississippi’s public received a “mask is mandatory” regulation from the government. After a few weeks of regulation implemented, the state’s average COVID-19 cases per day declined by 100 patients.
Joe Biden announces the deadline for COVID-19 vaccination campaigns
Do you know? Joe Biden is the newly appointed President of the United States. Since his involvement in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign is noteworthy, he has announced a deadline for all states. MS Dept of Health informs the deadline to be 1st May 2021. According to the new updates with several media channels, several health associations have proposed plans to quicken the vaccination procedure.
In the meantime, Ohio and other states and health associations have decided to put “no eligibility guidelines” for the public to receive the vaccination. Meaning, any person who desires to immunize their body against the risk of COVID-19 can go for vaccination. There are no age barriers, occupation, background barriers, or others.
On the other hand, countries like India are also planning for mass COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. As a result of the no eligibility covid-19 vaccination campaign, the administration informs that the states are giving over 1 million doses in a single day.
Mississippi Department of Education takes a tour in court
Amid COVID-19 widespread, everything was at risk. However, a few citizens in Mississippi tried to take advantage of this situation. A perfect example is Nancy New and Zacary New (Mother and Son), who runs New Summit School in Jacksons, Mississippi. According to the case, Nancy and Zachary submitted forged reimbursement papers/documents to the Mississippi Department of Education in order to obtain profit illegally. By doing so, the frauds obtained over 2 million USD from the association. Now, they are being charged with conspiring, frauding, stealing identities, and money laundering by the Mississippi Department of Education.
During the investigation on the case, the authorities come across the following outcomes:
- The school showed students and teachers continuing attending and teaching at the school respectively, even though they had left a few years ago.
- The documents also mentioned the names and addresses of people (as teachers and students) who have never attended or taught at the New Summit School.
- The documents also forged the information of teachers (with lower-level qualifications and experience) to higher-level qualifications and experience in order to receive higher salaries.
According to the forecast(s) based on the court hearings, the accused may face over 210 years in jail and a monetary fine worth 4 million USD.
Mississippi will no longer offer Medicaid expansion, said the Governor
On the one hand, the MS Dept of Health and the America Health Association is fighting hard to defeat the coronavirus widespread in Mississippi. Yet, on the other hand, the Governor is making some non-acceptable decisions out of nowhere. According to the latest news on Medicaid expansion, it turns out the Governor has rejected the proposal on expanding Medicaid for the working constituents. For foreign readers, Medicaid is a federal health insurance system for those who require financial aid (for example, people with no jobs or less than the average income).
The concept of Medicaid had come from Obamacare. Now, Mr Reeves, the Governor of Mississippi, has left over 2.2 million constituents with zero health protection or health care plans.
According to the latest signings by Joe Biden, only eligible “working constituents” will receive Medicaid. Not only this, but this move has also raised some “racial as well as gender-based” discrimination topics among the public.
Reeves spoke on the Mississippi Fairness Act
For all that’s going on, MS Dept of Health and MS Dept of Education, there are several other issues that are quickly rising in Mississippi. According to the latest grid of Tate Reeves on Joe Biden’s executive order, he seems to act against it. The order states that school students will be given full authority to base their participation in sports as per gender. According to Reeves, the order signed by the President was smart and intentional.
“Gender” in sports has been a great issue for young girls. Participation of biological males and females in the same sports for the same game on the same field can be a frightening situation. This bill/order will authorize the biological females to compete with each other. It will also protect them from prominent issues like harassment or assault in school.
Mississippi Govt. bans transgender athletes
What world are we living in? It is suspicious and unpredictable. One such unpredictable move was taken by the Mississippi government recently. It signed a bill for limiting the participation of transgender athletes by 100%.
For now, the government is only viewing the “pros” of the bill. However, the LGBTQ community’s President Alphonso David puts the greatest “con” in the spotlight. The bill will increase challenges for transgenders as the bullying rate may increase.
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