Beshear announces 2,339 new COVID-19 cases. Winter weather will close some vaccine sites.
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 2,339 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Tuesday and 35 virus-related deaths, lifting the state’s total number of confirmed cases to 381,121 and the death toll to 4,126.
With much of the state forecasting a winter storm on Wednesday and Thursday, Beshear announced that the Kroger regional coronavirus vaccination site at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, as well as the Kroger sites in Bowling Green and Covington, will be closed on Thursday.
Anyone scheduled for a first dose at one of these sites that day will have their appointment automatically rescheduled, potentially for later in the week and no later than next week, he said.
Mass power outages are expected and icy roads will make travel unsafe, and in some areas, impossible. “Logistically, it’s just something we had to do,” Beshear said. “I’m not excited about it, but I don’t want anybody to get hurt on the way.”
Still, with vaccine demand as high as it is, Beshear said he understands why that rescheduling is frustrating: “I know if you have an appointment, you’re muttering some words right now that I can’t repeat, but those appointments are going to be rescheduled by Kroger representatives.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the University of Kentucky said it would keep its vaccination site inside Kroger Field open, despite the threat of inclement weather. The university asked people not to cancel their appointments and urged those scheduled for a shot on Wednesday and Thursday to “dress warmly as they may be standing outside for a few minutes before checking in,” UK said in a statement.
The governor said Kentucky was promised a 6 percent uptick in its weekly allocation of vaccine doses from the federal government starting next week. The state is slated to get more than 71,650 new doses next week, compared with this week’s 68,475 doses. At least 452,532 people statewide have received at least one shot of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, according to the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
Rollout of the vaccine isn’t happening at the same pace across counties for a variety of reasons that include population variation and a persistently limited supply. While the state’s eventual plan is to launch enough high-volume regional vaccination sites so no one has to drive more than a county away to get their shot, that isn’t yet the case.
Though some sites are intermittently offering immunizations to eligible Kentuckians in priority group 1C — essential workers, people over the age of 16 with certain health conditions, and anyone age 60 and older — the state is still primarily focusing on people from 1B, like those age 70 and older, and stragglers from 1A.
Beshear couldn’t say for certain on Tuesday when the state would begin shifting its focus to 1C, but he did say the state is “getting close” to that point. But for now, he said, “we want to make sure we get through more folks in the 70 and older age bracket, specifically.”
It’s possible the state’s shift to other eligible groups will be more piecemeal. “We [may] also look at opening some types of regional centers to 1C earlier than local health departments,” Beshear said, since regional centers have a bigger share of doses and more resources at their disposal to be more targeted in their outreach.
In long-term care facilities, where virtually all staff and residents have had the option of getting at least their first dose, Beshear announced 14 new cases of the virus among residents and 15 new cases among staff.
The statewide positivity rate hit 7.66 percent on Tuesday. There are 1,204 people hospitalized with coronavirus, 282 people in intensive care and 148 on a ventilator.
This story was originally published February 9, 2021 at 4:52 PM.
