After vaccine distribution in Kansas favored rural areas, some big counties get boost
After a distribution formula tended to give rural counties in Kansas more COVID-19 vaccines per capita than more heavily-populated areas, a new plan underway this week offered substantially more doses to some larger counties.
New data from the Kansas Department of Health & Environment showed Johnson County was due to receive 14,040 vaccine doses this week, more than twice what was allocated to the state’s largest county two weeks ago. Sedgwick County was due to receive 15,530.
Wyandotte County, however, received only 2,340. That’s fewer than it received two weeks ago.
Marci Nielsen, chief adviser for Gov. Laura Kelly, said one reason for Wyandotte County’s lower allotment was that it had already vaccinated its teachers.
In a statement, the public health department of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas said it started vaccinating school employees in late January.
“We recognize the need for the state to prioritize teachers at this moment and anticipate that Wyandotte County will receive additional doses when they are available in a way that provides an equitable distribution across counties,” the statement said.
At the same time that some larger counties are getting a boost, 30 smaller, rural counties received no doses this week, according to KDHE data.
The Star reported on Feb. 14 that larger counties in Kansas received lower rates of vaccine on a per capita basis, with Johnson County receiving the lowest rate during the second week of the month. As a result, Johnson County was limiting vaccines to those who are 65 years old or older, health care and nursing home staff and emergency personnel.
Meanwhile, Stanton County in southwest Kansas with a population of just more than 2,000 publicized an event earlier this month offering vaccinations to anyone 18 years old or older on a first come, first served basis. Stanton County this week was among those not receiving doses, according to KDHE data.
A weekly distribution plan released by the Kelly administration on Monday said that in recent weeks Pfizer doses accounted for fewer than half of the vaccines coming to Kansas. The Pfizer vaccine requires that vials be stored at 94 degrees below zero, so Pfizer doses generally go to larger counties that bought equipment to store those doses.
As a result, larger counties got fewer doses per capita.
The Kelly administration’s vaccination plan also said that the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program started last week would result in more vaccines available in urban counties. The administration decided to reduce the frequency of vaccine shipments to counties that received 25 doses for every 100 people eligible under the state’s second phase of distribution.
“We will now be shipping vaccine to them every other week,” the Kelly administration’s plan said.
Dennis Kriesel, director of the Kansas Association of Local Health Departments, said those smaller counties will continue to receive secondary doses but that first doses were being withheld for the time being.
“Some ... urban areas, they weren’t getting the volume that the state was shooting for,” Kriesel said.
KDHE Secretary Lee Norman on Monday told members of the House Social Services Budget Committee that the state was working on improving its reporting of vaccine doses that have been administered.
Various sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have ranked Kansas at or near the bottom among states in distributing vaccinations, which Kansas leaders blame on lagging data reporting.
Norman told the committee that more than 11% of Kansans have received at least one vaccine dose.
“It’s very gratifying,” Norman said. “You see people in tears, you see people high-fiving — virtually.”
