will the rate of vaccinations increase soon?

Every Friday, the Shawnee Mission Post publishes a question about Johnson County vaccine and answers our readers’ questions about the process of being vaccinated for COVID-19 in Johnson County.

If you have any questions about vaccines that you would like answered, please email [email protected].

You can read our questions on the previous questions about the uptake of vaccine interests in the country, the priority lists of the country and the province and the fairness of the distribution of vaccines.

This week’s questions focus on questions from readers who want to know more about the rate of vaccination and vaccination.

Will the rate of vaccinations increase soon?

• This is quite possible, as provincial health officials expect to receive more doses in their weekly allocation coming through the state.
• The Biden government says it is increasing vaccine production this week, and the president has promised that by the end of May, there will be enough doses to vaccinate every American adult.
• This week, for the first time, Johnson County received more than 10,000 doses in a single week. This was in part due to an administration of more than 3000 doses of the newly authorized Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
• Sanmi Areola, Ph.D., the province’s health director, told land commissioners on Thursday he was “optimistic” that Johnson County will start seeing even more weekly doses than in the coming weeks.
• Pending the need for more vaccine administrations, the country is now renting a Lenexa warehouse that will henceforth serve as the country’s vaccination center. Areola said the goal is to do up to 2,500 vaccinations a day at the warehouse.

Does the acquisition of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine change the distribution of vaccine in Johnson County?

• The short answer is not yet.
• This week, Johnson County received about 3,300 of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines from the state, but the distribution of the vaccine will not occur regularly after the current stock runs out.
• Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said this week that Kansas will no longer receive Johnson & Johnson vaccines at least March 23.
• The health officials in the province this week welcomed the extra boost of vaccine.
• “We do not have enough vaccines to meet the needs of everyone who wants them, so we are happy to take everything we can, and we will administer them as soon as possible,” said Elizabeth Holzschuh, provincial director of epidemiology, said.

What happens if other counties in Kansas complete Phase 2 ahead of Johnson County?

• According to Areola, the smaller, more rural counties in Kansas are nearing the end of the state’s Phase 2 distribution, which focuses on people 65 and older, educators, first responders and essential workers such as grocery workers.
• Johnson County is currently about a third of the way through Phase 2 groups.
• Norman says counties cannot move on to the next phase before each of the 105 counties in Kansas can do so. As provinces with smaller populations start packing their Phase 2 clinics, they will get smaller vaccines, and supplies will be diverted to larger provinces like Johnson.
• In general, Johnson County, which makes up 21% of Kansas’s population but receives only 14% of the state’s total vaccine supply, has frustrated local officials and residents.
• “What we would like to see is that our portion of the vaccine reflects our numbers,” Areola said.

How does the province deal with people who are on their registration form, or who have not yet been vaccinated but are still showing up?

• If you are not currently vaccinated but are still making an appointment via the province’s online system, Areola says you will not be vaccinated if you show up at a clinic.
• He said they experienced that some people lied on the online form or mistakenly signed up for a vaccination appointment after someone else sent them a registration link.
• Areola said someone should be turned away at the point of vaccination because he is trying to waste the line, wasting the country’s time and resources. It can also take the place of someone who – for age or work-related reasons – has a more urgent need to be vaccinated.
• “It’s very destructive,” he said.

As a reminder, here are currently who are eligible to be vaccinated in Level 1 of Phase 2 of the province’s vaccination:

• People 65 and older
• K-12 school staff and child care providers
• Any remaining health workers not vaccinated as part of the phase
• Initial response, including police and firefighters

Who is vaccinated next?

• JCDHE hopes to inoculate with other Phase 1 groups in Phase 2 soon. Areola says vaccinations for grocery store workers could begin within the next few weeks.
• People who are 64 years and younger and have existing conditions will be preferred for vaccinations as part of Phases 3 and 4.
• Eventually, anyone who wants the vaccine will be able to get it, so ‘respect the sequence and the phases we are in,’ Holzschuh said.

Again, if you have a question that can be answered in a future Johnson County vaccination FAQ, send an email to [email protected].