FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky announced more than 150 new COVID-19 vaccination sites Thursday, many of them at supermarket pharmacies in rural communities.
That includes 10 new Kroger store locations, with one in Northern Kentucky (381 Market Square Dr, Maysville), 15 Walmart stores, and 125 Walgreens and independent pharmacies, 13 of which are in Northern Kentucky.
“We are expanding at a phenomenal rate,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “We are very quickly covering the whole state to get to our desired outcome where you never have to drive more than one county to get vaccines.”
The federal government will ship a limited supply of 13,000 vaccines to Walgreens and independent pharmacies across Kentucky. NKY Health has listed 13 local Walgreens pharmacies where vaccines will be available to people age 70 and older here, and independent pharmacies will be added to the list when registration information is available.
St. Elizabeth, HealthPoint and NKY Health are also administering vaccines to those in phase 1B across Northern Kentucky. Find appointment times and registration information here.
The Thursday opening of the COVID-19 vaccination site inside the Northern Kentucky Convention Center was postponed until Friday due towinter weather. The Kroger Health vaccination hub at 1 W. Rivercenter Blvd. in Covington did not open as planned, and Kroger representatives will reschedule affected appointments, some potentially for the weekend or next week.
Find out more about the vaccine hub coming to the Convention Center here.
Nearly 556,000 Kentuckians have received at least one vaccine dose so far.
Rent, utility relief applications open Monday
Starting Monday at 8 a.m., Kentucky tenants struggling due to the financial toll of the pandemic can apply for rent or utility bill assistance back to April 2020.
They can also apply for three months of future payments. If approved, lump sum, direct payments will be made to landlords and utility providers.
Kentucky's previous eviction relief fund helped 4,135 households financially affected by the pandemic pay rent and utilities, using $15 million in CARES Act funds.
Beshear said $264 million in federal COVID relief funds will be used to drive the current program.
Both landlords and tenants should apply to be accepted. To see if you qualify, visit teamkyhherf.ky.gov.
COVID-19 in Kentucky
Beshear reported 1,880 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, the lowest count in four weeks, as well as 36 virus-related deaths.
Since March, 384,903 Kentuckians have tested positive for COVID-19 and 4,211 have died of the virus. The state's test positivity rate has fallen to 7.08%, the lowest since Nov. 6.
Hospitalizations remained stable Thursday: 1,142 Kentuckians are currently hospitalized for COVID-19, with 278 people in intensive care units and 156 on ventilators. Kentucky's coronavirus fatality rate has risen to 1.08%.
Using the state's contact tracing database, NKY Health reports 2,799 active coronavirus cases in Boone, Campbell, Grant and Kenton counties, and 33,219 people have recovered from the virus as of Thursday. Since the pandemic began, 240 Northern Kentuckians have died from the virus.
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