Where does Kentucky stand with COVID vaccines? A report ranks every state
Kentucky is near the bottom in a ranking of how states are doing in administering the COVID-19 vaccine, a report says, but state officials say the report is misleading.
Becker’s Hospital Review, a publication specializing in health care news, compiles data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into a report that is updated daily. Each state is ranked by the percentage of vaccines administered, the report says.
Kentucky ranked 41st on Feb. 25 with a vaccination rate of 72.63%, administering 874,840 doses out of 1,204,585 it had received.
The report, most recently updated Thursday using the previous day’s figures, uses the CDC’s data tracker, which compiles information from health care facilities and public health authorities.
But Crystal Staley, communications director for Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s office, said Becker’s report does not paint the whole picture for Kentucky’s vaccination rollout. She notes the report does not separate first and second doses administered.
“At the end of last week, Kentucky had used 98.5% of all of the first doses of vaccines that had actually been received and thus could be administered,” Staley said. “Kentucky does not believe speed of second doses is an appropriate standard, as each second dose is intended for a specific individual per the FDA and CDC. Kentucky has now vaccinated over 14.7% of its population as compared to a national average of 13.6%, meaning Kentucky is leading in actually protecting its residents.”
The report also does not account for Kentucky having received only 6,825 of the more than 120,000 doses that were supposed to be delivered last week because of the winter storm, Staley added.
Leaders from some southern states have said recent snow and ice storms would likely delay shipments of vaccine doses.
“This past week, weather did play a significant factor in the amount of vaccine that got out,” Beshear said Monday.
Montana led the United States as of Thursday by administering 93.33% of its 260,385 vaccines. New Mexico, West Virginia, North Dakota and Wisconsin round out the top five.
As of Wednesday, the U.S. had administered 66 million out of a possible 86 million vaccine doses, roughly 79%, according to the CDC. About 13.5% of the population has received at least one dose and 6% are fully vaccinated, according to Becker’s Hospital Review.
Kentucky’s 50-plus regional vaccination centers will begin offering the coronavirus vaccine to people in priority group 1C beginning March 1. This group includes essential workers, people age 60 and older,and anyone over the age of 16 with certain at-risk health conditions.
Beshear, however, has asked some of the smaller vaccination sites to begin that transition more slowly so they can continue to administer vaccines in the 1A and 1B groups.
The state is expected to receive 152,710 total doses this week, with 64,000 of them left over from last week when winter weather prevented delivery of most of the state’s allotment, Beshear said.
Kentucky topped 400,000 coronavirus cases Wednesday, but there is encouraging news as the statewide positivity rate dipped to its lowest level since late October.
A third vaccine — one requiring just a single shot — could be on its way to the United States. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a report on Wednesday that says the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has a “favorable safety profile with no specific safety concerns,” clearing the way for emergency use authorization, McClatchy News reported.
This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 8:58 AM.