FRANKFORT, Ky. — Next week, Kentucky will add 157 COVID-19 vaccination sites across the state, including three new Northern Kentucky sites, for a total of 567 locations.
"Again, this is the infrastructure we have to build, because the president told us earlier this week that every adult who wants a shot can get their shot of hope by the end of May," said Gov. Andy Beshear.
The new local sites include a Kroger location in Campbell County and one Walmart in both Boone and Kenton counties. Find a list of all COVID-19 vaccination sites in Kentucky here.
Since December, Kentucky has vaccinated more than 731,000 individuals, and officials hope to double the number of people vaccinated by April.
Beshear said Kentucky expects a significant "ramp-up" of newly-approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine shipments in the coming weeks for independent pharmacies.
"The independent pharmacies will be a big part of our real ramping up and reaching our hard-to-reach populations as well," the governor said.
Residents in phase 1C, like essential workers, people 60 or older and people 16 or older with high risk conditions, are now eligible to receive COVID shots.
On Thursday, Kentucky reported 1,068 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, as well as 28 deaths, including a 61-year-old man from Kenton County.
Since last March, 408,440 Kentuckians have tested positive for COVID-19 and 4,732 have died of the virus.
Hospitalizations continue to decline. Currently, 645 Kentuckians are hospitalized for COVID-19, with 172 people in intensive care units and 91 on ventilators.
Using the state's contact tracing database, NKY Health reports 1,135 active coronavirus cases in Boone, Campbell, Grant and Kenton counties, and 37,689 people have recovered from the virus as of Thursday. Since the pandemic began, 272 Northern Kentuckians have died from the virus. Track the spread on Kentucky's COVID-19 incidence rate map.
Watch a replay of the briefing below:
