 |
| State Department for Public Health map, adapted by Kentucky Health News; click it to enlarge. |
Kentucky Health News
Gov. Andy Beshear announced that the state will open 119 new coronavirus vaccination sites next week, bringing the total to 410.
Six of the new locations will be regional sites; three are federally qualified health centers; 10 are at Walmart stores; 10 are at Kroger stores; and 90 will be at Walgreens stores. The new regional sites will be in Mount Vernon, Princeton, Burkesville, Richmond, Leitchfield, and Muhlenberg County.
"Don’t let anybody tell you different; vaccinations are going incredibly well in Kentucky," Beshear said, referring to a report that gave Kentucky a low ranking on vaccine delivery. His administration said the report was misleading because it counted second doses and last week's weather fouled up the rollout.
Beshear said even though Kentucky only got 6,825 new doses last week because of the severe weather, the state was able to use all of its extra and ended up vaccinating 41,835 people with a first dose.
“Last week was disrupted . . . We used every remaining bit that was out there," he said. "We will never judge ourselves in Kentucky by how quick the second dose gets to people. When we start doing that, it means we are sending it out willy-nilly. Every single second dose is for a specific individual that we want to get to that higher level of effectiveness of the vaccine. That's what the FDA tells us to do. That's what the CDC tells us to do. And that's what we're gonna do."
The state's daily vaccination report shows 646,836 Kentuckians have received their first dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine. That amounts to 14.7% of the state's population, said Beshear.
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman announced that public transit agencies across the commonwealth are now offering free or reduced-cost transportation to and from vaccine appointments. She said these services are already operating in 99 counties, covering 75% of all counties across Kentucky. To find transportation near you go to kycovid19.ky.gov or call 855-598-2246.
“We want all Kentuckians who wish to get vaccinated to be able to do so, and we do not want transportation to be a barrier,” said Coleman.
Asked why hair stylist and barbers weren't included in the 1C category, Beshear first commended these groups for doing such a good job in following the rules, but said this gourp would not be in 1C because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had not included them on their list.
Beshear confirmed that about 1,000 Ohioans had signed up at the Covington Kroger facility through Saturday to get a vaccine. He said Kroger has since fixed the sign-up process to no longer allow sign-ups by ZIP code so that couldn't happen again and that Kentucky would be asking the federal government to send Kentucky doses from Ohio's allocation to make up for those doses.
He said these Ohioans will be allowed to get the shot, adding, “They’re people too and they can spread it across the river."
The numbers: Beshear announced 1,447 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the seven-day average to 1,298, up for the third straight day.
Beshear said the case numbers are on track to be a bit higher than last week, but said this looks like it's largely due to less testing being done last week because of the severe weather, offering as an example that last Wednesday, 9,600 test were done and this Wednesday, that number was 14,000.
Monday through Thursday of this week already has 4,780 cases; the same period last week had 3,958.
The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the past seven days was 5.67%, the lowest that rate's been since Oct. 24.
The state reports an incidence rate of 24.70 cases per 100,000 people. Counties with double that number are McCreary at 49.7 per 100,000; Owsley, 51.8; Laurel, 53.1; Russell, 56.6; Taylor, 60.4; and Caldwell, 269.
WHAT'S GOING ON IN CALDWELL COUNTY?
Hospital numbers remain steady with 843 people hospitalized with Covid-19 ( down 40 from yesterday; 220 in intensive care (down 8); and 122 of those were on a ventilator (up 10).
Three of the state's 10 hospital readiness regions are using at least 80% of their intensive care beds: Barren River, 84.26%; the easternmost region, 80.88%; and Lake Cumberland, 91.11%.
Beshear announced 43 deaths on Thursday, 39 of the confirmed and four of them probable. That brings the death toll to 4,570.
"This hasn't gotten easer in 11 months," he said. "Everyday you feel people's loss."
He said a cursory glance at his list shows that the "vast majority" of the deaths happened in February, a "decent amount" happened in January and eight or less were what he called "historic deaths," meaning that they have been held up by the review committee for one reason or another.
The 14-day death average is 25.6, were it was when a climb was in progress in Jan. 11 that ended up reaching a high of 47.3 on Jan 29
Asked when church capacities could be raised above 50%, Beshear said this restriction has not been mandatory for a while and that if the state continues in the direction its on, "there is a lot of new opportunity."
In other pandemic news Thursday:
- The 43 fatalities reported Thursday were a Bell County man, 73; a Boone County man, 95; an Elliott County man, 78; a Fayette County man, 91; two Floyd County women, 59,80; a Floyd County man, 72; a Graves County man, 75; a Hardin County woman, 60; a Henry County man, 70; a Hopkins County woman, 21; four Jefferson County women, 70,76,78,81; seven Jefferson County men, 57,63,79,79, 81, 90,97; a Kenton County woman, 95; two Larue County men, 73,79; a Lawrence County woman, 67; a McCracken County woman, 78; a McCracken County man, 79; a McCreary County man, 62; two Madison County men, 84,85; a Marshall County man, 65; two Meade County men, 72,87; a Menifee County man, 49; a Nelson County woman, 85; two Nelson County men, 89,93; a Perry County man, 72; a Pulaski County man, 58; a Shelby County woman, 71; a Spencer County man, 87; and a Taylor County man, 72.
- Counties with 10 or more new cases were Jefferson, 220; Caldwell, 187; Fayette, 78; Boone, 43; Daviess, 40; Hardin and Scott, 37; Kenton, 36; Warren, 34; Bullitt, 30; Jessamine, 28; Laurel and Madison, 27; Johnson, 26; Whitley, 24; Taylor, 19; McCracken, Montgomery, Pike and Shelby, 18; Clark, 17; Adair and Christian, 16; Barren and McCreary, 15; Bell and Campbell, 14; Floyd, 13; Marshall, Nelson, Oldham and Perry, 12; Knox, 11; Bourbon and Franklin, 10.
- In long-term care, 174 residents and 168 staff have active cases of the virus, with nine new residents and 11 new staff members testing positive today. Beshear attributed 15 more deaths to the virus in long-term care facilities, bringing the death toll to 2,258.
- Click here for more information about unemployment insurance in the governor's news release.
from KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS https://ift.tt/3ssReMv Beshear announces 119 new vaccine sites to open next week, for a total of 410; Kentucky's pandemic metrics remain mostly stableHealthy Care
0 Response to "Beshear announces 119 new vaccine sites to open next week, for a total of 410; Kentucky's pandemic metrics remain mostly stableHealthy Care"
Post a Comment