Health departments in Missouri, Kansas prepare to escalate vaccine distribution
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KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) — Health officials are outlining what the next stage in the Coronavirus vaccine rollout could look like.
As of Thursday afternoon, Kansas had initiated vaccines for 35 thousand people, roughly one percent of the state’s population. Missouri had vaccinated 105 thousand, roughly 1.8 percent of the state’s population. The CDC’s Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker listed the nationwide total at 5.9 million.
Dr. Lee Norman, the Director of the Kansas Dept. of Health, said what the state needs most at this point is more doses to distribute.
“We haven’t gotten the total amount of vaccine the feds have promised us,” Norman said. “But we’ve pushed out what we’ve gotten essentially immediately. It’s been going in people’s arms and that’s what the goal is.”
Kansas had experienced a delay in reporting numbers to the CDC last week, causing the state’s numbers to lag behind the rest of the nation. Norman said healthcare providers are starting to make up lost ground.
“On balance we’re hitting on all cylinders,” Norman said. “But we need more vaccine.”
County officials in Missouri and Kansas echoed that sentiment. Juliann Van Liew, a project manager with the Wyandotte County Health Dept. said the county had identified possible sites for mass vaccination once enough product arrives.
In the short run they are still getting vaccines to high priority candidates, like people in assisted living facilities and healthcare professionals.
“If we get another batch of vaccine next week we’ll be ready to go. We have people who want to be vaccinated,” Van Liew said. “When the vaccine is ready we hope people will come.”
She said the county is also working with the state to prioritize which individuals may receive the vaccine in the CDC’s phase 2 distribution.
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