KENTUCKY — Over 1.3 million Kentuckians have received at least their first dose of one of three highly effective COVID-19 vaccines, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.
What You Need To Know
- Overv 1M Kentuckians have received at least their first COVID-19 vaccine dose
- That means about 40% of Kentucky adults have received a vaccine
- The state has also vaccinated about 70% of Kentuckians age 70 and up
- All Kentuckians age 16 and older will be eligible by April 12
“We’ve now vaccinated about 40% of Kentucky adults -- a really exciting milestone," said Beshear. "We also believe we’ve vaccinated about 70% of Kentuckians who are age 70 and up."
The milestone comes as all Kentuckians 40 and older are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. All Kentuckians age 16 and older will be eligible by April 12.
“Kentucky has been and remains the best performing state of all of our seven border states in terms of the percentage of our population that has had at least one dose of the vaccine – and that’s whether you look at the total population, the population 16 or older or the population 65 or older,” said Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health. “Please get the very first vaccine that’s available to you.”
Beshear and Stack both emphasized that while cases are declining in Kentucky while vaccines increase, it's too early to relax all precautions as the B117 COVID-19 variant spreads in the Commonwealth and across the country.
“We now know that in at least 15 counties across the state, we have found COVID-19 variants, the predominant one being the B117 variant (associated with the United Kingdom) and also some cases of the South African variant as well,” said Stack. “It’s really important that you take the vaccine as soon as you have the opportunity because if we allow this virus to spread too rapidly by not getting vaccinated, it has more of an opportunity to mutate and change, learning how to get more effective.”
To see all vaccination sites, visit vaccine.ky.gov. For a list of vaccination sites that have openings this week, visit vaccinemap.ky.gov.
As of 4 p.m. on Monday, Beshear reported the following numbers:
- New cases: 310
- New deaths: 11
- New audit deaths: 0
- Positivity rate: 2.89%
- Total deaths: 6,042
- Currently hospitalized: 364
- Currently in ICU: 87
- Currently on ventilator: 41
The top counties with the most positive cases Monday were: Jefferson, Kenton, Carter, and Harlan. Each county reported at least 15 new cases.