TOPEKA, Kan. – A walk-in COVID-19 vaccination clinic planned for this week by the Leavenworth County Health Department will be open to anyone who is 18 years old or older, regardless of where the person lives.
The clinic is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday at the Riverfront Community Center, 123 S. Esplanade St. People are asked to bring photo identification.
Previous clinics organized by the Health Department have been limited to Leavenworth County residents. But county spokeswoman Stephanie Sloop said in an email that the clinic is being made available for everyone at the guidance of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
“The goal is to get the vaccine to as many people that want it,” she said.
The Leavenworth County Health Department previously has offered both the Moderna vaccine, which requires two shots over about a one-month period, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires only one shot.
The Health Department stopped offering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine earlier this month. The state of Kansas paused it administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the recommendation of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration.
The recommendation followed reports of six cases of a severe type of blood clot in people who had received the vaccine.
On Friday, the CDC and FDA announced the pause should be lifted and use of the vaccine should resume.
The KDHE announced Monday that administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will resume in Kansas.
Sloop said in an email that Leavenworth County Health Department officials were still evaluating Monday whether the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be available for Thursday’s clinic.
In a joint news release Friday, the CDC and FDA reported that available data suggest the chance of developing a blood clot after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is very low, and the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its risks.
The Leavenworth County Health Department reported Monday 23 new cases of the coronavirus in the county. Twenty-two of the new cases are what Health Department officials refer to as community cases. The other new case involves an inmate at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth.
The Health Department typically releases an update each Monday about local COVID-19 cases.
There have been 6,800 confirmed cases of the virus in Leavenworth County since the start of the pandemic.
As of Monday afternoon, Leavenworth County Health Department officials were monitoring 25 active community cases.
Fifty-five Leavenworth County residents have died from complications with COVID-19.
One county resident was in the hospital Monday because of COVID-19. A total of 224 county residents have been hospitalized because of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
The Leavenworth County Health Department reported Monday that it has administered first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to 15,074 people. Of those, 14,313 have also received second doses.
