COVINGTON, Ky. — All hands are on deck for the mass vaccination event at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in conjunction with Kroger. 

Preparations for distributing the first doses are already well underway and the site is expected to be open to eligible members of the public starting Thursday and running through Saturday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. EST. 

Steve Hensley is the Director of Kenton County’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

During a briefing on Monday, Hensley says officials from the county to state and Kroger discussed the process of organizing the best means of service and routes for the community to get to the center.

The vaccination clinic is part of an effort by Gov. Andy Beshear, the Northern Kentucky Health Department, and Kroger, to provide doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Organizers add this is a significant step forward in the ongoing effort to ensure every Kentuckian who wants a vaccine will receive a shot.

For now, Hensley says the state expects the demand to continue to far exceed supply as they continue to work on the logistics. 

 “We’re going to open up in kind of a slow fashion. We’re going to identify what goes well, what doesn’t go well, identify any deficiencies then we'll make the necessary changes. So we’re being hopeful that at some point and time the volume and quantity of the vaccine will increase and when that happens so will our operational aspects of scheduling and those type of things to make the opportunities more available to the public,” says Hensley. 

Officials say they expect to receive 2,000 COVID-19 doses weekly to the center.

Hensley says the National Guard is being deployed to the convention center to help transport people needing assistance to receive the vaccine.