Beginning Monday, April 5, everyone over age 16 will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination in Kentucky. Gov. Andy Beshear made the announcement during a press conference Wednesday and said the state is on track to meet President Biden’s goal of 200 million shots by his 100th day in office.
“This is a good day, it means that we will beat the President's request by a month to have it opened up to everyone,” Beshear said.
He reported 815 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, which is higher than last Wednesday’s case count. For the last 11 weeks the state has seen a decline in cases, but Beshear said it’s not clear if cases will continue to decline this week.
“COVID report suggests it’s going to be real close this week in whether or not we have our 12th week of declining cases or we start to see a plateau.”
Beshear announced 22 new deaths. Three deaths came from the state’s audit of death certificates. Hospitalizations, people in intensive care units and the number of people on ventilators have increased since Monday.
“We’ve seen fluctuations, and this isn’t a large one, but we’re going to watch it,” he added.
Vaccination clinics around the state have available appointments and Beshear urged people to sign up. On April 12, the University of Louisville will open up the state’s largest drive-thru vaccination site, University of Louisville President Dr. Neeli Bendapudi said.
“We are expecting about four to 5,000 people per day. Over the seven week run, we hope to vaccinate nearly 200,000 citizens from throughout the Commonwealth,” Bendapudi said. “A massive undertaking like this cannot happen without the participation and support of hundreds of committed volunteers.”
Kentuckians can call 502-681-1435 to make an appointment in Louisville.Kentucky Dam Village State Park Convention Center, Baptist Health in Madisonville, the Northern Kentucky Convention Center and many other vaccination sites have appointment openings. A list of Kentucky’s vaccination sites can be found here.
