Covid-19 News

Dr. Gina Lagarde was recognized for her work in coordinating the Region 9 COVID-19 response over the past two years during a recent ceremony. Dr. Lagarde is responsible for overall daily public health needs in Region 9, which encompasses Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes.

LANG, Pafford and OPH staff collectively performed 65,000 COVID-19 tests and administered 55,000 vaccines in Region 6's eight parishes including Rapides, Vernon, Winn, Catahoula, Concordia, Grant, Avoyelles and LaSalle.

Dr. Lacey Cavanaugh, regional medical director for the Southwest Office of Public Health, was recently recognized by the Louisiana National Guard with its Distinguished Civilian Service Award for her work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Tina Stefanski, regional medical director for the Louisiana Department of Health's Office of Public Health in Acadiana, was recently recognized by the Louisiana National Guard with its Distinguished Civilian Service Award.

Kayla Guerrero coordinates COVID community testing and vaccination centers in the south-central parishes of Assumption, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Mary and Terrebonne.

Following the Food and Drug Administration's authorization, people 50 years old and above and people 12 years old and above with moderate or severe immunosuppression are now eligible for a second booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. The second booster dose should be given at least 4 months after administration of one's first booster dose.

Sites affected include Lafayette Parish Health Unit Clifton Chenier Complex and St. Martin Parish Health Unit.

Two of the Louisiana Department of Health's Community-based COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites in Region 4 (Acadiana) which are supported by the Louisiana National Guard (LANG) will be closed Tuesday, March 22 due to severe forecasted weather on that day.

Gov. Edwards: "I want to be clear that just because the proclamation is expiring doesn't mean COVID is over. If the circumstances call for it, I will not hesitate to declare another emergency."

The Louisiana Department of Health has launched its new COVID-19 Support Hotline, which merges the former contact tracing hotline and the COVID-19 vaccine hotline to provide the general public one convenient resource to get their COVID-19 and vaccine questions answered.