Gov. Beshear Announces COVID-19 Vaccination Phases For The Commonwealth

These phases also help providers understand what order vaccines should be administered in.

(Frankfort, Ky.) – On Monday, Governor Andy Beshear and Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, provided an update to Kentuckians about the COVID-19 vaccine which will be administered in four phases.

The Governor said that the state’s goal is to administer 90 percent of all vaccine doses received in the state within seven days of arrival and that the newly announced additional phases provide clarity on when more Kentuckians get the vaccine.

These phases also help providers understand what order vaccines should be administered in, which is crucial if they are having challenges meeting the 90 percent weekly goal or if they have extra thawed vaccine.

The planned vaccination phases are:

• Phase 1a: Long-term care facilities, assisted living facilities, health care personnel
• Phase 1b: First responders, Kentuckians over the age of 70, K-12 school personnel
• Phase 1c: Kentuckians over the age of 60, anyone older than 16 with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highest-risk conditions for COVID-19, all essential workers
• Phase 2: Kentuckians over the age of 40
• Phase 3: Kentuckians over the age of 16
• Phase 4: Children under the age of 16 if the vaccine is approved for this age group (estimated to comprise 18% of Kentucky’s population)

“We’ve got to get these things out faster. I’m not OK with the pace that they are currently being provided. We have too many people out there who are rightfully anxious, and they need to see this whole country pick up the pace. We are certainly going to do it here in Kentucky,” said Gov. Beshear. “Today we’re going to talk about some changes we’re making, some additional clarification, so if we ever have another case like those two stores that thaw too much vaccine again, they know exactly what population should get it.”

To view the CDC’s highest-risk conditions for COVID-19, click here. To view essential workers, defined for these vaccination phases, click here.