Kentucky getting more than 150,000 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine this week
Gov. Andy Beshear announced 1,497 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Tuesday, as well as 16 additional virus-related deaths, raising the state’s total number of confirmed cases to 399,013 and the death toll to 4,476.
The statewide positivity rate is down to 6.60 percent — the lowest since November 4. Beshear, in his live daily update, called this metric the “best piece of news,” as the positivity rate is a “leading rather than lagging indicator” of how widespread the virus is across Kentucky.
At least 594,380 people across the state have received at least their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine. Earlier on Tuesday, the White House coronavirus task force vowed to give a million or so additional doses to states every seven days for at least the next three weeks. In Kentucky, that translates to more than 10,000 doses each week. This week, the state expects to get 152,710 total doses — roughly 64,000 of which are leftover from last week, when inclement winter weather prevented delivery of most of the state’s allotment.
On Monday, Beshear announced that people in priority group 1C — essential workers, people age 60 and older, and people over age 16 with certain at-risk health conditions — will collectively become eligible to sign up for a dose at the state’s more than 50 regional immunization sites beginning on March 1.
Beshear recommends in-person learning
Kentucky is on-pace to become the fastest state in the country to inoculate its K-12 personnel, who fall into 1B. Beshear signed an executive order Tuesday that “recommends” all public and private school districts “offer or expand” some form of in-person instruction beginning either on March 1, or seven days after school personnel have received their second dose of the vaccine.
“We didn’t vaccinate our educators for nothing,” Beshear said. “We did this because we all know that we need some form of in-person learning, [but] it’s got to be safe.”
The order also asks that schools institute universal masking rules for all students and personnel, density reduction measures in classrooms, hallways, buses and other areas where the risk of transmission is heightened, and that schools continue to offer meaningful virtual options.
In long-term care facilities, there are new positive cases among eight residents and 16 staff members. Statewide, there are 894 people hospitalized with coronavirus (up 20 people from Monday), 242 in intensive care (one fewer) and 121 on a ventilator (up two).
This story was originally published February 23, 2021 at 4:23 PM.
