HERMANN — Like its counterparts elsewhere, the Gasconade County Health Department is bracing for the onset of cold weather without one of its key defenses against illness: Its allotment of COVID-19 vaccine.

“We’ve had a real delay in COVID vaccine,” Health Department Administrator Kenna Fricke told the agency’s Board of Trustees at its regular monthly session last week.

“I went through all that I had here,” she added, noting that vaccinations overall are increasing in volume as the health agency gears up its outreach program.

While the coronavirus waned during the warm-weather months, it never disappeared, as pointed out by local health officials. The number of cases are beginning to rise, as expected, as the seasons change and colder weather arrives. Healthcare workers say the virus doesn’t appear as strong as during the height of the pandemic, nor is it requiring the levels of hospitalization seen in previous years.

But like battling the flu, healthcare workers are contending with different strains of the coronavirus, which makes the availability of a vaccine all the more important.

Like the county health agency, local pharmacies are awaiting their supply of coronavirus vaccine.

In other public health matters, Fricke reported that the county’s Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program has recorded a jump in participation from August to September, from 175 to 184. She said increased use of WIC reflects higher prices at grocery stores.

“It’s proved to be a program that’s unique,” the administrator said. “Food is expensive right now,” she added.

Fricke said the staff will be preparing to take part again in a Decontamination Drill at the county’s Reception Center as part of the Gasconade County planned response to a radiation incident at the Ameren Callaway Power Center. The drill — held once in every 8-year period — was conducted over three days in early August. The Reception Center is the Hermann Middle School gymnasium. The Decontamination Drill aims at demonstrating the various public-service agencies’ ability to carry out the emergency plan.

A redo of the event was made necessary because the short notice given from state and federal emergency response agencies to Gasconade County Emergency Management Director Clyde Zelch didn’t allow the Hermann Fire Company’s volunteer firefighters to schedule time away from their regular jobs to take part in the drill. But, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) coordinators, the fire protection agency must take part in the drill in order for the various agencies to demonstrate they can carry out the plan in the event of an actual emergency.

The county’s Health Department has a role to play at the Reception Center in the event of an actual incident and evacuation of residents from the northwest portion of the county — the area, which includes Morrison, within the radiation zone — to the center.

“Right now, they’re talking Spring Break and during the evenings,” Fricke told the board. Organizers might try to compress the necessary activities into two evenings, rather than take the three days normally needed. “We’re awaiting further information,” she said, adding that having to do the drill again is “a little bit of a bummer.”

The agency administrator applauded Gasconade County Prosecuting Attorney Mary Weston for bringing together several agencies in the formation of the county’s Opioid Settlement Team. This group, which includes the Health Department, will advise Weston on the best use of the county’s funds received from the settlements reached by local government with the makers and distributors of prescription opioid drugs. Thus far, the county has received between $50,000 and $60,000 with additional funds scheduled to be received during the next 17 years.

“As the Health Department, we would love to partner with her,” Fricke said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to bring the groups together,” she said.”

Weston will be using the input from the various members of the Opioid Settlement Team to decide where to use the money — for education, awareness programs, treatment programs and increasing the supply of Narcan which is frequently successfully used for immediately treating an overdose.