Reports of low vaccination numbers in Pulaski County is incorrect

For the past several weeks, many news media outlets outside the Fort Leonard Wood area have carried stories about Pulaski County having the lowest Covid vaccination rate among the counties in the state. As we reported last week, these reports are inaccurate, because the information is taken from a state dashboard site that does not include Covid vaccinations given at Fort Leonard Wood. However, this Wednesday, during a virtual town hall event livestreamed on the Fort Leonard Wood Facebook page, Fort Wood commander, Major General James Bonner reported General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital personnel have delivered more than 14-thousand doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to service members, Department of Defense civilians and contractors, and other beneficiaries who volunteered to receive it. This significantly raises the reported percentage of the population who have received at least one Covid shot up to about 30 percent of the population. Bonner said that due to the successes in reducing the impact of Covid-19 on the post, many garrison amenities are now open or will open soon. The Outdoor Adventure Center and Piney Valley Golf Course are both open. The Rec Plex is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend. And a Fourth of July extravaganza is being planned. Graduations are being opened to family members and friends in a phased approach. Graduations for functional courses, basic officer leadership courses, captains career courses, and NCO Academy courses are now open to in-person visitors. One Station Unit Training and Advanced Individual Training graduations will open up to in-person visitors May 20th. Basic Combat Training graduations will open up June 30th.