We hosted our monthly Zoom call with Chamber members on Tuesday, June 8.
Our featured guest was Jody Singer, Director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Jody discussed NASA’s Budget Release and its impact to the North Alabama workforce. She also shared the latest on launching Artemis.
COVID latest
Cases are still popping up, but hospital cases are flat. The focus right now is to get as many people vaccinated as possible. Here are the numbers on vaccination rates in Madison County, as of June 8:
- 38 percent of people (143,000 residents) have received at least 1 vaccine.
- 33 percent of people (122,000 residents) have completed the 2-vaccine Pfizer or Moderna series, or got the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
- Ages 75 and older in Madison County – 84% have been vaccinated.
- Ages 65-74 – almost 75% have been vaccinated.
- Ages 18-54 is the main area of focus now.
- Ages 18-29 – 28.6% vaccinated
- Ages 30-49 – 39.3% vaccinated
- Ages 50-64 – 52.4% vaccinated
Children ages 12 and up are eligible for the vaccine. Currently, for ages 17 and under, only 3.4 % have been vaccinated in Madison County. Schools will be communicating about some vaccination clinics this summer. The hope is to increase these numbers before classes resume in August. If your child is exposed to a student who tests positive for COVID, and your child does not show symptoms, and your child is vaccinated, your child will not have to quarantine, per local school health leaders. More information will be shared in the coming weeks.
Visit these sources to schedule a vaccine:
Huntsvillehospital.org – Pfizer
Madison County Health Department – Moderna and J&J
Your local doctor’s office
You can also visit vaccines.gov and choose the vaccine you’d like to get (Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson) and then schedule an appointment near you.
Other topics:
We also spoke with Charles Moore, Raytheon Technologies’ Huntsville Site Lead, about Raytheon’s support of Hiring Our Heroes.
We also spoke with Cindy Doty of PassionHR about the rise in false unemployment claims. Please make your employees aware that this is happening, and if they receive a notice in the mail from the Alabama Department of Labor, to not throw it away. They need to bring it to your attention (you may also receive a notification in their name, or possibly an alias, such as a maiden name). Labor.alabama.gov has information about Unemployment Compensation Fraud, and steps people should take to report it, and then to protect their identity and credit. Please also visit identitytheft.gov.
In addition, the Chamber team shared updates on Best Places to Work, Small Business Award nominations, the annual Armed Forces Celebration, Initiatives magazine, and more.
Our next Zoom call is scheduled for Tuesday, July 13.