FRANKFORT, Ky. — The opening of a regional COVID-19 vaccination site at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center has been postponed due to incoming winter weather, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Tuesday.
The Kroger Health vaccination hub at 1 W. Rivercenter Blvd. in Covington will not open Thursday as planned, Beshear said. Kroger representatives will reschedule those appointments, some potentially for the weekend or next week.
"We don't want people to get harmed coming to get vaccinated at certain sites," the governor said.
Once it opens, the site is set to run 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, and officials hope to administer 2,000 doses per week.
You must have an appointment to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, and you can schedule online now atwww.kroger.com/covidvaccine or at www.kycovid19.ky.gov, or by phone at (866) 211-5320. You will also be able to schedule a second booster dose appointment at the same location, Beshear said.
To learn if you're eligible to receive a vaccine now, visitvaccine.ky.gov or call Kentucky's vaccine hotline, (855) 598-2246, active 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
FAQ: What to know about the vaccine hub coming to NKY Convention Center
St. Elizabeth, HealthPoint and NKY Health are also administering vaccines to those in phase 1B in Northern Kentucky.
Kentucky will run six vaccine hubs: two in Paducah and one in Murray, Glasgow and Danville. Another Kroger vaccine hub is running now in Lexington, and one in Bowling Green will open next week due to weather.
Now through the week of Feb. 22, NKY Health and all Kentucky health departments will be allocated a "stable supply of vaccine," according to Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack. That means each department will receive doses equivalent to 1% of the population the department serves, with a minimum of 100 doses. Second doses will ship to those county health departments four weeks later. Officials said 90% of doses must be administered within the week they are received to Kentuckians 70 and older.
Beshear also said the federal government will ship a limited supply of vaccines to Walgreens and independent pharmacies in Kentucky, and locations receiving vaccines will be announced Thursday. Northern Kentucky Health has also listed 13 local Walgreens pharmacies where these vaccines will be available to people age 70 and older here. Independent pharmacies will be added to the list once registration information is available.
The governor also announced the federal government increased Kentucky’s vaccine supply for the third time in three weeks for a total increase of 28%.
Since vaccines arrived in Kentucky in December, nearly 556,000 Kentuckians have received at least one vaccine dose, more than 10% of the state population.
COVID-19 cases declining in Kentucky
Kentucky has seen new COVID-19 cases and test positivity rate decline for the last four weeks, Beshear said Monday.
Beshear reported 2,339 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest daily case count in two weeks. The governor also announced 35 new deaths, including two men from Boone County, ages 88 and 92, and a 95-year-old woman from Kenton County.
Since March, 381,121 Kentuckians have tested positive for COVID-19 and 4,126 have died of the virus. The state's test positivity rate has fallen to 7.66%.
Hospitalizations rose slightly Tuesday: 1,204 Kentuckians are currently hospitalized for COVID-19, with 282 people in intensive care units and 148 on ventilators. Kentucky's coronavirus fatality rate has risen to 1.08%.
Using the state's contact tracing database, NKY Health reports 3,163 active coronavirus cases in Boone, Campbell, Grant and Kenton counties, and 32,352 people have recovered from the virus as of Tuesday. Since the pandemic began, 240 Northern Kentuckians have died from the virus.
Watch a replay of Tuesday's briefing in the player below:
