Stack shares new details of draft plan for COVID-19 vaccine in KY

October 20, 2020 | 12:09 am

Updated October 20, 2020 | 12:14 am

Graphic by Owensboro Times

The Kentucky Department for Public Health on Friday announced an initial, comprehensive draft plan for distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to local health departments and health care organizations. New details of the plan were shared Monday.

Dr. Steven Stack, KDPH commissioner, provided Monday’s update, which included the phases for distribution outlined in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine.

The first shipment of the vaccine is anticipated for delivery in late 2020 or early 2021 to Kentucky from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Defense.

“The first phase of the plan will help ensure those most at risk – certain health care workers and first responders – have access to the vaccination,” Stack said in Friday’s release. “The plan will accommodate vaccinating these essential workers in every county across the commonwealth.”

On Monday, Gov. Andy Beshear said the state will have to target certain populations to get the vaccine out as quickly as possible to the people who need it most. 

“As we go forward in months from there, we’ll have progressively larger quantities of vaccine, and then we’re cautiously hopeful that by the time we reach the end of next year, everybody who has wanted the vaccine will have had the chance to have one,” he said.

To learn more about each phase, see page 44-45 of the state’s draft COVID-19 vaccination plan.

Beshear said the timetable for making a safe coronavirus vaccine available to Kentuckians ultimately is dependent on how quickly one is developed and mass produced for distribution.

“The federal government provided a detailed plan for how states should distribute the vaccine, once all safety trials are completed, and the commonwealth’s plan closely mimics their recommendation,” a Friday statement from Beshear reads.

The publicly available draft plan references vaccine management and tracking; supply management; community education and engagement; contact management; analytics and reporting and organizational support.

“Supplies of the vaccine will be limited, at first. This is the reason for a phased distribution approach. As supplies of the vaccine rise, all Kentuckians are expected to have access,” Stack said, adding that distributing the vaccine to as many as 4.4 million residents will likely take a year or more to complete.

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October 20, 2020 | 12:09 am

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