KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Thousands more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are expected to arrive in Kansas this week and next.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said Tuesday the state began receiving the newly approved Moderna vaccine early this week and will have 49,000 doses by the end of the week.
Pfizer shipped 17,500 more doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to Kansas this week.
Kansas remains focused on its most at-risk population first in its distribution of the vaccines.
Kelly said the Pfizer shipment will go to CVS and Walgreens pharmacies, which have agreed to administer the vaccines at long-term care facilities free of charge.
Next week, Kelly said the state anticipates receiving another 17,500 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 20,000 of Moderna’s.
The governor said the Pfizer vaccine will continue to be used in long-term care facilities while the Moderna inoculation will go to health care workers.
The vaccine, combined with the state’s unified testing strategy and an increase in the number of counties participating in the governor’s mask protocol, have had positive effects.
Kelly said the testing strategy directly contributed “to the control of the spread of virus in Kansas for the first time since the stay-at-home order was lifted in May.”
Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Dr. Lee Norman said Kansans’ efforts to mitigate virus spread have not gone unnoticed, either.
Norman noted that the state didn’t see the anticipated bump in cases post-Thanksgiving, which he attributed to residents who altered their holiday plans.
He encouraged Kansans to do the same at Christmastime by engaging in low-risk activities, including hosting a small dinner with only members of their household, delivering holiday meals, having virtual dinners and sharing recipes with friends and family.
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