FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear and his wife, First Lady Britainy Beshear, each received a booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine during Thursday's Team Kentucky update.


What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Andy Beshear and First Lady Britainy Beshear received the COVID-19 booster shot during a press conference Thursday

  • Beshear urged people to get a booster shot because Kentucky has seen vaccine effectiveness start to decline recently

  • Beshear also promoted vaccinations for kids ages 5 to 11 who are now eligible

“I am convinced that if we have another spike and the severity of what it will be will depend on how many of our people we have gotten boosted,” Gov. Beshear said. “We have seen in recent weeks that waning immunity is real.”

The Beshears got their booster shot as vaccine eligibility expands to kids ages 5 to 11, and Beshear said there has been a lot of demand from parents to get their kids vaccinated.

“It’s a great way to protect your child, protect your family, protect your community, and avoid those other consequences that are necessary to keep people safe and ensure all children have the chance to be in school,” said Kentucky Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack.

There’s hope the expanded access to vaccines will bring the rate of new cases down even further, although the decline has flattened recently in the Commonwealth.

“I’m not sure I would use the word concerned yet, but we’re paying very close attention to it,” Beshear said.

The positivity rate has hovered around 5% this week, only dropping by fractions of a percent over the past few days

Even though officials are keeping an eye on how the rate of new cases is trending, many counties are moving out of the red when it comes to the state’s incidence rate map, meaning some school districts are considering whether or not to ease mask restrictions.  

“Listen, I think we’ve got a good shot at getting to a place with this virus where we won’t need masks in school, hopefully during this school year, but we will not get to that place if we rush the decision,” Beshear said. “Remember, orange is still a bad color, right? You want to get to yellow or preferably green.”

And he said the only way to get into the yellow and green zones is to get vaccinated, get a booster if eligible, and continue being cautious in public spaces.