On a day with much death from Covid-19 in Kentucky, governor touts progress, optimism about rollout of coronavirus vaccines

Kentucky Department of Public Health graph; 172,537 doses have been administered.

By Al Cross

Kentucky Health News

As the specter of Covid-19 deaths grew larger, Gov. Andy Beshear announced progress on getting Kentuckians vaccinated to quell the pandemic.

The state attributed 51 more deaths to Covid-19, pushing the total to 3,042 and the 14-day rolling average to a new high, 27.1. The daily total was the third highest, replacing the 47 recorded the day before. The dates do not represent the date of death, but the date that the death was confirmed or listed as probable. Five of the latest deaths were probable and the rest were confirmed.

"A really hard death count today," Beshear said just after starting his last briefing of the week, taking more than two minutes to read the list of the dead and announcing 4,084 new cases of the novel coronavirus. 

He noted that the number was smaller than those of the last two Thursdays; the seven-day rolling average of new cases, which hit a record 4,002 Tuesday, fell for the second straight day, to 3,715.

The share of Kentuckians testing positive for the virus in the last seven days rose slightly, to 12.34%, but hospitalizations fell below 1,700 for the first time in 11 days. Of the 1,661 Covid-19 patients, 409 were in intensive care and 196 were on ventilators, a 13% drop from Wednesday, but as Beshear noted, "That's not always the result of a good outcome."

On the vaccine front, Beshear had encouraging news. He said the pace of vaccinations has picked up, and announced that a drive-through vaccination program with Kroger and other partners would begin Feb. 1 for people in the first three priority phases.

Some localities have already entered the second and third phases, and Beshear said he believed that all the elementary and secondary school personnel who have agreed to take a vaccine will be vaccinated by the end of the first week of February, which originally was the week their shots were to start.

 

“The pace is really picking up. I am very optimistic about where we’re going,” he said, adding later, “I think we’re gonna reach the point pretty soon where our ability to get the vaccine out quickly is gonna exceed the amount of vaccine were actually gonna get” from the federal government.

“We’ve got to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible to reach herd immunity to defeat this virus. And even, if you see some people that are maybe getting it out of turn, most of the time the reason is, doing that sometimes is going to be what’s required to keep the pace up to get to immunity. So everybody who gets it, regardless of when they get it, are one step closer to getting immunity.”

Beshear named Transportation Secretary Jim Gray to oversee vaccine distribution. Gray said, "We are committed to ensuring equitable distribution of the vaccine … everyone will have their turn." He said a website and hotline to schedule vaccinations will open Jan. 28, and depending on supply, the state "will get the vaccine in every arm of everyone who wants it as quickly and safely as possible.”

Kentucky ranks 26th in percentage of population vaccinated, says The Washington Post's vaccine tracker. Interviewed on MSNBC, Beshear said, “We’re gonna get this done; it’s gonna be messy at times. it’s the largest logistical challenge we’ve faced since World War II, but it’s how we protect the lives of our citizens, so we’ve got to have urgency, and every day we gotta improve how we do it.”

Slide from Beshear's briefing

The governor and his lieutenants reiterated at his briefing that the slow rollout is largely due to the slow pace at long-term-care facilities, which are being handled by CVS and Walgreens under a federal contract. Every state accepted the arrangement but West Virginia, which decided to use independent pharmacies because it had few of the big chain stores. It is outpacing all other states.

In response to a question about shut-ins, Beshear said the state would try to reach them through independent pharmacies and heath departments.

He said the slow pace is also because many employees and residents of the facilities are reluctant to take the vaccine.

Asked what he would say to the estimated one-third or more of Kentuckians who appear reluctant, he said there is time to bring them around.

“We’re finding that 30 percent aren’t all hard ‘no’s,” he said. “They are, ‘I want to see other people take it.’ In the long-term-care setting, we’re seeing folks who originally said no coming around and then wanting the vaccine.”

While some people are “anti-vaccine, there are some that are just nervous,” he said. “There are some that want to talk to doctor about their own conditions; and there are some want to see other people take it before they do.”

Asked if he had considered requiring any group to be vaccinated, he said, “At this point we don’t anticipate any requirements for individuals to get it. We believe that over time and within the schedule of when we’re going to get vaccines, that we’ll see more and more people, as they see others getting the vaccine.” 

He said the state would involve “more influencers, faith leaders and others stepping out and working with us. . . . We need more voices than just mine . . . so we’re gonna have that as we move forward with educating and encouraging those that maybe don’t have enough information too.”

Because “some people only get their news from Facebook, you can understand that they don’t have the information that they need to say yes to it, so we need to find people who are where they are at, that communicate with them in everyday life and can communicate how safe the vaccine is,” Beshear said. “There will be a point where everybody will know somebody that has had the vaccine and can watch and see that they are just fine.”

In other coronavirus news Thursday:

• Beshear said all but one county, which he did not name, had a new case. Counties with more than 10 new cases on the state's daily report were: Jefferson, 642; Kenton, 235; Boone, 176; Oldham, 176; Fayette, 172; Warren, 139; Pulaski, 131; Campbell, 126; Morgan, 115; Daviess, 101; Hardin, 86; Madison, 81; Laurel, 79; Pike, 68; Nelson, 59; Calloway, Clark and McCracken, 51; Bullitt, 50; Boyd, 41; Scott, 38; Hopkins, 37; Barren and Marshall, 36; Floyd and Graves, 35; Rowan, 34; Christian, Greenup and Montgomery, 32; Franklin and Knox, 31; Henderson, 30; Harlan and Letcher, 29; Jessamine and Mason, 27; Bell, Breckinridge, Carter and Shelby, 26; Butler, 25; Boyle, 24; Mercer and Rockcastle, 23; Meade, Ohio. Perry and Whitley, 21; Allen and Hart, 20; Bourbon and Simpson, 18; Clay, Grant and Grayson, 17; Fleming and Taylor, 16; Casey, Johnson, Marion and Woodford, 15; Hancock, Lawrence, Logan, Muhlenberg, Pendleton and Wayne, 13; Adair. Anderson, Lincoln, Union and Washington, 12; and Caldwell and Powell, 11.
• Morgan County, a county of 14,000 that is the scene of a major virus outbreak at a state prison, continues to have by far the highest seven-day average daily infection rate, 869 per 100,000 residents. Counties above 100 per 100,000 (1 per 1,000), are: Clinton, 202.7; Clay, 164.4; Carroll, 162.6; Oldham, 150.8; Harrison, 133.9; Wayne, 120.8; Hancock, 116.3; Caldwell, 112.1; Taylor, 110.9; Webster, 109.3; Ohio, 109; Henderson, 106.2; Butler, 105.4; Nelson, 103.2; and Cumberland, 101.5.
• Hardin, Jefferson and Whitley counties each had four people added to the list of Covid-19 deaths. The Hardin deaths were a woman, age 86, and three men, 77, 82 and 77. Jefferson lost two women, 76 and 80, and two men, 63 and 77. The Whitley deaths were two women, 47 and 83, and two men, 62 and 86.
• Other fatalities were a Bath County man, 81; a Carroll County man, 78; two Carter County women, 73 and 89; a Clay County woman, 68; a Daviess County woman, 86; a Fayette County woman, 89; a Gallatin County man, 69; a Graves County woman, 87; a Henry County woman, 76; a Hopkins County woman and man, 63 and 84; a Lincoln County woman, 85; two Livingston County men, 55 and 68; a Logan County woman and man, 71 and 86; a Lyon County woman, 95; a Madison County man, 61; a Mason County man, 89; a Mercer County man, 86; two Montgomery County women, 85 and 95, and a man, 99; a Muhlenberg County woman and man, 90 and 92; two Ohio County women, 79 and 90; two Pulaski County women, 60 and 73, and a man, 77; a Robertson County woman, 93; a Rockcastle County woman, 52; a Russell County woman, 55; a Taylor County woman, 72; two Wayne County men, 76 and 80; and a Woodford County woman and man, 74 and 78.
• In long-term-care facilities, 64 more residents and 34 more employees tested positive for the virus, making for 1,005 active cases in residents and 637 in staff. An additional 22 resident deaths were confirmed, making a total of 2,026.
  
• Deaths in long-term-care facilities and other congregate settings such as prisons now account for 69 percent of the Covid-19 deaths in Kentucky. The figure has risen in recent months, and has done likewise in most states examined by a Kaiser Family Foundation study. "Among the 38 states that reported at least four months of trend-able data on LTCF cases since April 2020, four states reported highest average weekly new cases in November 2020, and 24 states reported their highest average weekly new cases in December 2020," KFF reports. "This pattern aligns with timing of when many states experienced their highest state-wide new cases and deaths. Kentucky was among the 24 states. It was also among the 21 of 39 reporting states that had their highest average Covid-19 deaths among long-term care residents and staff in the last two months of 2020, mostly in December.
• The Department of Veterans Affairs in Lexington is offering vaccinations to veterans age 50 and up. It has been vaccinating veterans by appointment, but this weekend will have a walk-in clinic with no appointment necessary.
• Dollar General Corp. will pay employees who get vaccinated an extra four hours' wages, making it one of the first major retailers to incentivize shots, The Washington Post reports.
• Health Commissioner Steven Stack expressed thanks for "the outpouring of support" that he, his wife and daughter have received since their mailbox was vandalized Sunday. "The goodness in the world far outweighs the bad," he said.
• President-elect Joe Biden announced a plan, priced at just under $2 trillion to appeal to Republicans, proposed a plan that "would direct billions of dollars toward a nationwide vaccination program intended to reduce delays in production and delivery, hire medical workers to administer shots, and create a public awareness campaign to convince people to take them," the Post reports. "The same plan would extend enhanced unemployment aid through September, send $2,000 stimulus checks to many Americans, and significantly expand benefits for poor and middle-class children. New jobless claims rose by 181,000 to nearly 1 million last week, the largest increase since the beginning of the pandemic."