TOPEKA, Kan.– Governor Laura Kelly held a news conference Thursday to give an update on the vaccine distribution in Kansas.
Gov. Kelly and Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Dr. Lee Norman showed two posters detailing the Kansas Vaccination Phases.
The first phase includes healthcare workers; residents or patients in long-term care, senior housing or independent living; and workers critical to pandemic response continuity. This phase is already underway.
State leaders said vaccine distribution is going well in the state, and that reporting is what is keeping numbers low.
The Centers for Disease Control shows Kansas has had 36,000 vaccinations, while the state’s own numbers show 45,000. But Norman said that the real number could be closer to two times higher than what’s being reported.
“People are not sitting on the vaccine and keeping it in storage, they’re giving it into people’s arms,” Norman said.
Kelly said they expect to be finished with Phase 1 by the end of the month and will then move to Phase 2. That next phase includes people aged 65 and older, congregate settings and high-contact critical workers.
High-contact critical workers include:
- Firefighters, police officers, first responders, and correction officers
- Grocery store workers and food services
- K-12 and childcare workers, including teachers, custodians, drivers, and other staff
- Food processing, including meat processing plants
- Large-scale aviation manufacturing plants
- Transportation workers
- Workers in retail, agriculture, supply of critical services or materials for COVID-19 response, the U.S. Postal Service, and Department of motor vehicles
Congregated settings include:
- Homeless shelters
- Congregate childcare institutions
- Emergency shelters or safe houses
- Corrections facilities
- Behavioral health institutions
