LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky is urging residents from across the state to request a COVID-19 vaccine appointment at UK's Kroger Field site, regardless of the phase they fall into.

The requests, which can be made online, are then sorted, and invitations to schedule an appointment are sent according to state guidelines.

“We're really pushing through what we call our database of people who have registered,” said Joe Monroe. He’s the UK Chief of Police and oversees the Emergency Management Operations.

He said they’re going from Phase 1C to all phases in a push for more people to get registered. This includes anyone 16 and up.

“We are making the transition from 1C to open it up. We are pretty much exhausted our 1C phases list. So we are now preparing to open it up to the additional phases," Monroe said. “Currently we're running the largest vaccination clinic in the state of Kentucky. So we are very confident that we're going to be ahead of everybody else in moving forward."

In the coming weeks, Monroe said they will start vaccinating all Kentucky residents, and those who may live in a different state but study or work in the Commonwealth.

“We've had conversations with the state about that in as long as we are prioritizing phase 1, A and B and C, as we go through that we are going to start opening up to the other phases,” Monroe said.

On January 19, UK Healthcare began administering vaccines to those in Phase 1B at Kroger Field. That's the group involving educators, first responders, and anyone 70 and up.

Now the site has an output of vaccinating more than 4,100 people daily which tallied up is more than 140,000 doses administered overall.

“We want to make sure we're vaccinating as many people as possible in the Commonwealth, so we can end this pandemic,” Monroe said.

All Kentucky residents, and those who may live in a different state but study or work in the Commonwealth, should follow these steps to request a vaccine:

• Register online at ukvaccine.org. After registering, you'll receive a receipt of confirmation.
• Check your email regularly. Once it's time for you to schedule an appointment, you'll receive a unique access code at the same email used in the request form. The code never expires, and it can't be shared with anyone else.
• Schedule your appointment with the access code. If the available dates don't work with your schedule, keep checking back as more appointments are added based on vaccine supply from the state.
• Email vaccine@uky.edu with any questions. A team member should respond within 24-48 hours.

The university and UK HealthCare have administered over 130,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines over the last few months in partnership with UK Athletics, UK’s Emergency Operation Center, the Office of Student Success, and hundreds of volunteers.

"As the largest vaccination clinic in the state, and in fulfilling its mission to be the university of, for, and with Kentucky, UK hopes to make communities healthier and individuals safer every day that passes," said a release from UK.