BY LUCIE KRISMAN
Over 2,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be administered during a clinic Wednesday, public health officials said Monday night.
The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department will partner with LMH Health to host the clinic at the Douglas County Fairgrounds for those who qualify under Phase 2 of the vaccination rollout.
Public Health Director Dan Partridge said the department is looking forward to partnering with LMH Health to make vaccination distribution more effective and putting both organizations under one roof to avoid community members arriving at the wrong location to be vaccinated.
"Not only is it going to make things more efficient for organizations, but we hope that it will make the messaging to the community a little more simple," Partridge said.
Phase 2, as outlined by Gov. Laura Kelly, encompasses individuals over 65 as well as critical workers within local government, education, food service and transportation. Current allocations for Phase 2 in Douglas County designate 40% toward individuals over 65, 10% toward local government sectors, 25% toward education workers, 15% toward food service workers and 10% toward transportation and other categories encompassed by Phase 1.
Partridge said additional clinics will continue to be planned based on the number of doses of the Pfizer vaccine the department receives the week before. Typically, that number falls around 1,950. Pharmacy partners of the department will reach out to individuals in the county who qualify for vaccination.
"We did have a little bit of a learning curve with that first week or two, but since kind of getting our feet under us, we give out every dose the week after we get it," Partridge said.
The Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health Department will issue additional guidelines this week regarding mass gathering limits and capacities for restaurants and bars.
Reach reporter Lucie Krisman at eudoratimes@gmail.com.