By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostBuchanan County Presiding Commissioner Lee Sawyer is hopeful
mass COVID-19 vaccinations will put the county over the hump in fighting the
coronavirus pandemic.Mosaic has begun vaccinating residents in Phase 1B, which
includes those 65 or older and any adult considered high-risk due to their health
condition.Sawyer sees vaccinations as a game changer.“I’m excited about it,” Sawyer tells host Barry Birr on the
KFEQ Hotline. “This could really help us get to that horizon we’ve been talking
about with brighter days.”It could take between 50-and-53,000 Buchanan County residents
to be vaccinated for the county to reach herd immunity against the virus.The state allocated Buchanan County $10.2 million from the
CARES Act funding approved by Congress for Missouri.Sawyer says it doesn’t appear the county will receive additional
money even if Congress acts on a proposal by President Joe Biden for more
COVID-19 funding.“We have not seen anything that would indicate that we would be
getting additional funding,” according to Sawyer. “We just don’t have anything
that has shown that or we haven’t been able to get anything that would lead us
to believe that we would be getting more.”Sawyer says he is proud of how the County Commission worked to
distribute the money provided it from the CARES Act. The state distributed the
COVID-19 relief funds to counties based on their population. Sawyer says the
commission made sure each school district in the county got funding, that
businesses got some relief, among others.“We did stuff with the city fire department, helping them. The
police department, their emergency communications center, they didn’t have (an)
ability to separate people with the way they were configured and so we were
able to help with that,” Sawyer says.

Vaccinations could help turn corner in fight against coronavirus pandemic