Kansas to make COVID-19 vaccine available to all adults, starting next phase of plan
All adults in Kansas will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine beginning Monday as the state enters the final phase of its vaccination prioritization plan, Gov. Laura Kelly announced Friday.
“With the anticipated increase in supply from the federal government, we must get every dose of vaccine into arms quickly,” Kelly said in a news release. “I strongly encourage every Kansan to get the COVID-19 vaccine so we can get back to school, back to work, and back to normal.”
The final phase makes everyone age 16 and older, about 400,000 additional Kansans, eligible for the vaccine.
The announcement comes after Kansas moved into phases 3 and 4 of the rollout this week. Kelly said last week that she did not expect to move to phase 5 until late April.
The governor said the move was possible because of “anticipated increase in supply,” but the Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced Thursday that Kansas would receive only 16,500 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine rather than the anticipated 100,000 doses next week.
The decision to open eligibility to all adults comes at a time local health departments are reporting a decline in demand despite the state moving into phases 3 and 4. By entering into its final phase, the Kelly administration is attempting to ensure that no vaccine is wasted, Kelly’s statement Friday said.
Republican lawmakers said said they were happy to see broader access to the vaccine but suggested it should have happened sooner.
“I’m glad she (Kelly) is finally recognizing that we need to move forward and make sure that we are at least getting the vaccine to those that are willing to get it,” said Rep. Brenda Landwehr, a Wichita Republican and chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee.
She said people with underlying health conditions, regardless of age, should have been in the second group to get vaccination access — behind only health workers and nursing home residents — and she was particularly upset that KDHE had threatened to withhold vaccine from counties that wanted to move through phases quicker than state guidelines.
Sen. Richard Hilderbrand, a Galena Republican who chairs the Senate Public Health and Welfare committee, applauded Kelly for “finally coming to this decision.”
“Everybody that wants to take it I hope they have the opportunity to get it soon,” he said.
In a statement, Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, called the move “encouraging” after “weeks of confusion about who is in what phase.”
“This should eliminate the governor’s desire to impose a statewide mandate on masks and hopefully lead to the speedy removal of unnecessary restrictions across Kansas,” Masterson said.
Masterson and House GOP leaders pledged earlier this week to block the governor’s planned attempt to extend the statewide mask order past March 31.
About 35% of adults in Kansas have received at least one dose of the vaccine, a notable Increase from last week, when an estimated 20% had been vaccinated. Kansas currently ranks 38th in the nation on vaccine distribution per capita.
Kansas will become the eighth state in the U.S. to make the vaccine available to all adults, joining Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Utah, and West Virginia.
Last week, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced that all adults in Missouri would become eligible for the vaccine by April 9.
Kansans are encouraged to use the Vaccine Finder tool to find the nearest location with available vaccine.
The Kansas City Star’s Sydney Hoover and the Wichita Eagle’s Dion Lefler contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 12:29 PM.
