OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska public health officials on Friday urged residents who received their first coronavirus vaccination shot to return for their second dose to get full immunity, saying that roughly 6,000 people have not done so within the recommended time window.
State officials have seen a “slight lag” in people but are working to contact them and schedule appointments, said Angie Ling, incident commander for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
“We’re really hoping that people come in for their second doses,” Ling said in a coronavirus press conference with Gov. Pete Ricketts.
But Ling said the overall number of vaccine doses administered has surged as Nebraska officials received more supplies, and she expects the number will continue increasing. The state reported that 14,238 doses were administered on Thursday, setting a new single-day record. The daily numbers have fluctuated wildly over the last two months but are trending upward.
Health officials in Nebraska have administered 158,385 first doses of the vaccine and 62,957 second doses so far, according to the state’s online tracking portal. Nebraska has received a total of 300,400 doses. The state reports that 4.24% of residents who are at least 16 years old have been vaccinated.
Ling said Nebraska officials are working with the federal government to submit a plan so the state can receive more federal money to help deliver vaccines.
Ricketts has been isolating at home after he was exposed last weekend to a person who later tested positive for the virus. He said he was tested twice this week through TestNebraska, the state’s contracted testing service, and received a “negative” result both times. Pointing to current federal guidance, he said he should be able to leave his home on Sunday as long as he wears a mask in public.
The governor said the nation’s two current vaccine providers, Moderna and Pfizer, have been ramping up their production and Nebraska should receive a larger weekly allotment soon. Ling said the state received a combined 27,200 doses from the companies this week, a number that’s expected to increase to 28,700 next week.
“We’ll be getting a steady stream of vaccines,” Ricketts said, and more are likely coming if drug maker Johnson & Johnson’s proposed vaccine wins federal approval.
Nebraska reported 285 people hospitalized with the virus as of Thursday afternoon, a number that has steadily trended downward since the record highs of nearly 1,000 in mid-November. However, the number is still elevated from the levels seen earlier in the summer of 2020.
Nebraska has confirmed 193,069 virus cases and 1,958 deaths since the pandemic began. About 94% of those who have died in Nebraska were at least 55 years old.
Nebraska has finished its initial wave of vaccinations, which focused on front-line health workers. The next phase is focused on the elderly, people with high-risk medical conditions and those who work in high-risk jobs, such as teachers, law enforcement officers and people who work in prisons and homeless shelters.
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