Both Lourdes and Baptist Health hospitals in Paducah will be among the regional sites announced by Gov. Andy Beshear. So is Baptist Health in Madisonville.
There is also a vaccine clinic operated by the Christian County Health Department at the Hopkinsville Convention Center. Marion native Kayla Bebout is the director of public health in Christian County.
These locations will be for Kentucky residents age 70 and order and all of those in Phase 1A and 1B, which mostly includes healthcare workers, long-term care residents and school employees.
Crittenden County Judge-Executive Perry Newcom and other leaders from the five-county Pennyrile Public Health District have sent the governor a petition asking for more clinic sites, particularly community hospitals and health departments. In their resolution, leaders from Crittenden, Lyon, Caldwell, Trigg and Livingston counties say that the Pennyrile Public Health Departments and hospitals in those counties have proven their ability to handle the logistics of administering vaccine efficiently.
“They’re making this harder than it has to be,” Newcom told The Press on Friday. He said drive times and wait times at “mega-clinics” will have a chilling affect on individual desires to get the vaccine.
“For someone from the Tolu area, a drive to Madisonville, Hopkinsville or Paducah is an hour long, and then there is the question of whether the available doses will be gone when they get there,” Newcom said.
GO TO REGIONAL VACCINE CLINIC SITE MAP
In other news today, Gov. Beshear announced the state’s positivity rate has declined to 8.75 percent.
“Our declining positivity rate shows that Kentuckians are continuing to make those small sacrifices we’ve been talking about all year in order to protect each other until we get enough vaccines for everyone who wants one,” Beshear said. “Wearing masks around people from different households, social distancing, washing their hands, staying home when they can and getting tested regularly. It’s the simple things you’re probably sick of hearing about by now that can make the biggest difference as we near the finish line.”
The state has also launched a vaccine website, vaccine.ky.gov, to help Kentuckians determine if they are eligible to receive a vaccine. It also helps them find a location in their region to get a shot.
“Beginning Feb. 1, 2021, the COVID-19 vaccination priority will be phase 1B, people ages 70 or older, and all vaccination sites are asked to prioritize this population until further notice,” Beshear said. “Other Kentuckians from phases 1A and 1B remain eligible for vaccination and as vaccine quantities and available appointment times allow, persons in phase 1C may also be scheduled, to ensure each vaccination site administers 90% or more of all vaccine doses received within seven days of arrival.”
