COVID-19

We now have the updated (’24-’25) Moderna COVID vaccine for ages 6 months and older if it has been at least 2 months since your last shot. You can get these during our immunization clinic hours: Tuesdays 9-11am, Wednesdays & Thursdays 1-4pm, and the 1st & 3rd Thursday 1-6pm. Bring your insurance card. However, if you are uninsured or your insurance doesn’t pay for vaccines we are participating in the government’s Vaccines for Children and new Vaccines for Adults programs that provide many vaccines (including flu and COVID) at no cost to you.

Print your paperwork ahead of time by clicking here.

Follow the latest from CDC here.

Public Health does not have any COVID tests. You can now order 4 FREE at-home tests to come in the mail. Be prepared and order yours today at covidtests.gov. Tests may also be purchased at local pharmacies (Capstone, Hy-Vee, Walmart).

Before You Throw Out “Expired” Tests: Check FDA’s website to see if your COVID-19 tests’ expiration dates have been extended.

CDC recommends that all people use core prevention strategies. These are important steps you can take to protect yourself and others:

When you may have a respiratory virus:

You can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, both are true:

• • Your symptoms are getting better overall, and
  • You have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication).

When you go back to your normal activities, take added precaution over the next 5 days, such as taking additional steps for cleaner air, hygiene, masks, physical distancing, and/or testing when you will be around other people indoors. This is especially important to protect people with factors that increase their risk of severe illness from respiratory viruses.

• • Keep in mind that you may still be able to spread the virus that made you sick, even if you are feeling better. You are likely to be less contagious at this time, depending on factors like how long you were sick or how sick you were.
  • If you develop a fever or you start to feel worse after you have gone back to normal activities, stay home and away from others again until, for at least 24 hours, both are true: your symptoms are improving overall, and you have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication). Then take added precaution for the next 5 days.

If you never had symptoms but tested positive for a respiratory virus‎:

You may be contagious. For the next 5 days: take added precaution, such as taking additional steps for cleaner air, hygiene, masks, physical distancing, and/or testing when you will be around other people indoors. This is especially important to protect people with factors that increase their risk of severe illness from respiratory viruses.

Additional prevention strategies you can choose to further protect yourself and others include:

• Masks – Wearing a mask can help lower the risk of respiratory virus transmission. When worn by a person with an infection, masks reduce the spread of the virus to others. Masks can also protect wearers from breathing in infectious particles from people around them. 
• Physical distancing – Putting physical distance between yourself and others can help lower the risk of spreading a respiratory virus. There is no single number that defines a “safe” distance, since spread of viruses can depend on many factors.
• Tests – Testing for respiratory viruses can help you decide what to do next, like getting treatment to reduce your risk of severe illness and taking steps to lower your chances of spreading a virus to others. 

Every year, respiratory viruses such as influenza (flu), COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cause hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths during the fall and winter virus season.

Groups of people at a higher risk for respiratory illnesses:

Older adults whose immune systems tend to not work as well and are more likely to have underlying health conditions.

Young children have immune systems that are still developing and small airways.

People with weakened immune systems can have lower defenses against infections and their bodies may have a harder time building lasting protection from immunization or prior infection.

People with disabilities are more likely to have underlying medical conditions, live in congregate settings, or experience factors and conditions stemming from social determinants of health that increase their risk for poor outcomes from respiratory infections.

Pregnant and recently pregnant people because pregnancy can cause changes in the immune system, heart, and lungs that make people more likely to get very sick from respiratory viruses.