TOPEKA, Kan. – Data from four local health organizations showed that more than 50,000 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in Douglas County as of Thursday.
Altogether, data from the four distributors — LMH Health, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, Heartland Community Health Center and Haskell Indian Health Center — showed that 50,080 first doses and 32,984 second doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered. That’s an increase of 2,307 first doses and 5,990 second doses since the county last reported vaccine distribution information to the Journal-World on April 8.
The most recent vaccine distribution data shows that the four aforementioned organizations have administered 50,080 of the 59,275 first doses they have received, or around 84.5%. The four organizations have also administered 32,984 of the 38,375 second doses they have received, or around 86%.
With both first and second doses, those four Douglas County organizations had administered 83,064 total doses as of Thursday. That’s an increase of 8,297 doses since data was last reported on April 8. As the Journal-World reported, Douglas County is currently the most vaccinated county in Kansas against COVID-19. According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s dashboard, as of Friday at 12:30 p.m., 466 out of every 1,000 Douglas County residents had received at least one dose.
The county is asking that anyone who has not yet scheduled a vaccine appointment or anyone who has been vaccinated at one of the clinics at the Douglas County Fairgrounds fill out a survey. The goal of the survey is to receive feedback on the clinics and identify barriers to receiving the vaccine for those who have not yet made appointments. The survey can be taken online at bit.ly/DGCovidSurvey.
In Kansas, the vaccine is currently available to people in Phases 1 through 5, meaning everyone 16 and older. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Moderna vaccine is recommended for those 18 and older. The Pfizer vaccine is recommended for those 16 and older.
Kansas paused administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week following an announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that six recipients of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the United States developed a rare disorder involving blood clots within about two weeks of vaccination. More than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered in the United States. The federal government will study links between the vaccine and the rare disorder.
Registration for all of the health department’s vaccination clinics are open to the public, and registration codes are posted at LDCHealth.org/COVIDVaccine and Douglascountyks.org/Coronavirus.
Other organizations in Douglas County besides LMH Health, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, Heartland Community Health Center and Haskell Indian Health Center are administering vaccines. The Journal-World published a list of other vaccine distributors last month. The list includes AuBurn Pharmacies in Baldwin City and Eudora, CVS, Dillons, Hy-Vee, Medical Arts Pharmacy, Orchards Drug, Sigler Pharmacy, Walgreens and Walmart.
People who have questions about the COVID-19 or the vaccination process can call the county’s COVID hotline at 785-864-9000 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Douglas County reports 25 new COVID-19 cases
Douglas County reported 9,067 cases of COVID-19 as of Friday, an increase of 25 cases since Wednesday.
In Douglas County, 8,875 out of the 9,067 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, meaning 192 cases are active.
The county has averaged about eight new cases per day over the last 14 days, according to a 14-day moving average graph updated weekdays by the health department. The current average of 7.86 new cases per day is up from a low of just under seven new cases per day in mid-March and down from a recent high of 71 cases per day in early January.
Douglas County has a 14-day COVID-19 incidence rate of 91.45 per 100,000 people and a test positivity rate of 2.3%. Positivity rates are 2.9% in Eudora, 2.3% in Lawrence, .7% in Baldwin City and 0% in Lecompton. Five patients at Lawrence’s hospital had COVID-19 on Friday, the same number as Wednesday. To date, 86 Douglas County residents have died from COVID-19.
