The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend people who have already had the coronavirus still get vaccinated. Last week, Mercy Springfield Hospital’s infectious disease specialist, Dr. William Sistrunk, said the COVID-19 vaccination adds a long-lasting immune response during a press conference.

Missouri reported more than 23-hundred new coronavirus cases Thursday, and many of the cases are due to the highly contagious delta variant infecting mainly unvaccinated people. The New York Times ranks Missouri’s vaccination rate as one of the lowest in the country.