Lexington health department opens COVID-19 vaccine appointments to anyone 18 or older
Anyone age 18 and older can now register for a COVID-19 vaccine at the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, staff announced Monday.
The decision to broaden eligibility ahead of the state’s schedule was prompted because too few eligible people were signing up for the doses, said department spokesman Kevin Hall.
“We need people to get the shot,” he said. “Go get yours, and then tell people how easy it is.”
The health department, like the rest of Kentucky, was previously immunizing people in priority group 1C, which includes people ages 50 and older, essential workers, and those over age 16 with at-risk health conditions. Only people who live or work in Lexington qualify for a dose from the health department.
Hall attributes his department’s waning demand to the state’s influx of immunization sites, many of which have come online this month. As of this week, Kentuckians can choose from nearly 600 different vaccination locations.
It’s a far cry from even a month ago, when demand in most places radically outpaced supply, including in Lexington.
On March 2, just as vaccination sites were first opening to 1C and encouraged by the state to prioritize people 60 and older, Gov. Andy Beshear assured Kentuckians, “If it’s been tough for you to get an appointment, it’s going to get a whole lot easier as we move forward.”
That first week of 1C eligibility at the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, it took just two hours to fill up all 800 available slots, Hall said. At that point statewide, communities were primarily reliant on regional vaccination centers, including the high-volume sites at the Kentucky Horse Park, in partnership with Kroger, and the University of Kentucky-operated site inside Kroger Field.
Now, almost a month later, dozens of Walgreens, Walmart, Kroger and independent pharmacy locations around the state have also begun offering doses, and more regional sites are opening almost weekly.
That saturation, which health officials agree is a good thing, is driving down demand at some smaller sites, and as a result, they’re scrambling to adapt to ensure their doses aren’t wasted and to meet the governor’s goal of injecting at least 90 percent of vaccine supply into people’s arms within seven days of receiving it.
Starting April 12, anyone over the age of 16 in Kentucky will be able to register for a vaccine, Beshear announced last week, his confidence buoyed by an expected uptick in weekly supply from the federal government that’s slated to begin arriving later this month.
The Lexington health department jumped that start date on Monday, simply because registration was too slow, and “we want to make sure that every dose gets used.” The health department has been giving the Moderna vaccine, which is limited to those 18 and older.
Unlike in early March, when weekly doses would get nabbed in a matter of hours, staff opened registration on Friday, March 19 for this week’s 800 doses. By late Monday morning, there were still 550 available slots.
Slowing vaccine demand isn’t unique to Lexington.
In the Lake Cumberland District Health Department, which covers 10 Southern Kentucky counties, Director Shawn Crabtree said, “we are also having more difficulty.” In order to ensure his department’s weekly allocation of 1,000 doses don’t go to waste, they’ve begun reaching out to community partners to help “drum up” registration. Otherwise, “scheduling is very slow.”
Roughly 26 percent of Kentucky’s population has received at least their initial dose. As of Friday, 11.5 percent of people in Fayette County were fully immunized, according to the health department.
Though state and local leaders less than a month ago were asking people who qualify for a dose to hold off until their more vulnerable counterparts got access to one, that no longer applies, Hall said.
“People are waiting their turn [because] they think there are people who need it more than I do,” he said. “If you’re in the phase, get the shot. Now is not the time to wait for others in front of you if you’re eligible for it.”
A portion of the Lexington health department’s weekly doses will still be reserved for more vulnerable populations, Hall said. For more information and to register, visit www.lfchd.org/vaccine. The department’s weekly appointment-only immunization clinic is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday at Consolidated Baptist Church on Russell Cave Road.
This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 12:37 PM.
