Photo by: Lauren Fox
There were 10 drive-thru vaccination stations and one vaccination station inside the arena at Douglas County Fairgrounds on January 29, 2021.
Data from four local health organizations showed that more than 19,500 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered in Douglas County by Thursday.
In all, data from the four distributors – LMH Health, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, Heartland Community Health Center and Haskell Indian Health Center – showed that 19,568 first doses and 7,411 second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered.
That’s an increase of 2,810 first doses and 2,916 second doses since the county reported the vaccine distribution information to Journal-World on February 19.
The most recent data show that these four organizations administered 19,568 of the 21,995 first doses they received, or 89%. The four organizations also administered 7,411 of the 15,837 second doses they received, or 46.8%.
The percentage of second doses administered is lower because agencies must wait for the appropriate time to administer the second dose, said health department spokesman Karrey Britt, previously to Journal-World. The second dose of Pfizer vaccine should be administered 21 days after the first dose, and the second dose of Moderna vaccine should be administered 28 days after the first dose.
With the first and second doses, the four Douglas County organizations administered 26,979 total doses by Thursday. That’s an increase of 5,726 doses since the last data release on February 19.
Douglas County is vaccinating people in Phase 2, which includes residents aged 65 and over, key local government officials, K-12 education staff, food service staff, people who live or work in institutions collective care, workers essential to the functioning of the community and anyone who was eligible to be vaccinated in Phase 1, but has not yet received an injection. Workers essential to the functioning of the community include people such as transport workers, DMV and postal workers, agricultural and food processing workers and those who provide services or materials that are used as part of the response to the pandemic. The County Vaccine Planning Unit estimates that between 30,000 and 40,000 Douglas County residents qualify for Phase 2.
Other organizations are involved in the distribution of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in Douglas County. As reported by Journal-World, Walmart and Dillons announced that they would administer some doses through the United States Federal Retail Pharmacy Program.
Dillons and Walmart receive vaccines directly from the federal government and distribute them through their own plans and systems, Britt said. These doses will not be included in the municipality’s figures. In addition, Britt said that Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health has been working with some local pharmacies to provide vaccines in places such as long-term care facilities and living settings. These doses are provided by the health department and are included in the numbers provided above.