TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Kansas health care workers on Monday began receiving the first of the state’s coronavirus vaccines amid an ongoing surge in cases that has left hospitals stressed.
The Ascension Via Christi health care system gave shots to 115 physicians and employees at its St. Francis hospital, spokeswoman Roz Hutchinson said. The first group of five late Monday morning included a critical care nurse, a housekeeper for a COVID-19 unit and a respiratory therapist.
Gov. Laura Kelly said during a Statehouse news conference that Kansas had received its full, initial shipment of the first of two doses of a vaccine made by Pfizer for 23,750 people. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized its emergency use Friday.
“We’ve a seen a rollout of a few vaccinations,” Kelly said. “We expect that we’ll continue to see that ramping up and that Wednesday, you’ll see sort of an across-the-state vaccination program beginning.”
At the Wichita hospital, Kristen Garrett, a registered nurse in the intensive care unit at the hospital, was the first to receive the vaccine. She said she was concerned that people would let their guard down as vaccinations become available, The Wichita Eagle reported.
“I do worry that with the vaccine coming out, people will think it’s over,” she said. “It’s not.”
Dr. Maggie Hagan, an infectious disease specialist and medical director at the hospital, got the second shot.
Hospitals across the state are dealing with both staffing shortages and an influx of new coronavirus patients, an average of 55 a day for the seven days ending Monday. According to the Kansas Hospital Association, 61 of 142 hospitals surveyed or 43% are expecting critical staffing shortages in the coming week.
The state has reported more than 190,000 confirmed and probable coronavirus cases since the pandemic reached Kansas in early March, or almost one for every 15 of its 2.9 million residents.
The Pfizer vaccine was going first to cold-storage sites that the state isn’t disclosing for security purposes before being distributed.
The state’s vaccine distribution plan says the first shots are going first to health care workers at high risk of coronavirus exposure, and state officials have said the first group also includes nursing home workers and residents. Kelly said Monday that workers in state prisons - where there have been hundreds of cases - also will be in the first group to get the vaccines.
Other essential workers would receive shots in the second phase of the distribution, including first responders but also grocery and meatpacking plant workers, according to state officials.
Kansas officials hope to receive the first of two doses of a vaccine made by Moderna for 49,000 people later this month, though the FDA has yet to authorize its emergency use. Soon, Kelly said, the state should be receiving weekly shipments of the vaccine from both companies.
But it’s likely to be months before the vaccine is available for everyone, and Kelly said in a statement after her news conference, “The threat is not over.”
“We must all continue practicing commonsense COVID-19 mitigation efforts to protect our neighbors’ health and safety, keep businesses open, and get our kids back in school,” Kelly said.
Kansas reported 190,018 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday, an increase of 4,724 since Friday. The state averaged 2,285 new confirmed and probable cases a day for the seven days ending Monday.
Department of Health and Environment data showed 2,109 people have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began in early March, an increase of 37 since Friday. The state also reported 5,895 hospitalizations as of Monday, an increase of 95 since Friday.
___
Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna
Please read our comment policy before commenting.