Gov. Laura Kelly knew the COVID vaccine was coming. Why wasn’t Kansas better prepared?

Kansans remain justifiably worried and confused about the COVID-19 vaccine — who can get it, when and where.

“Where is my COVID SHOT!!!” one exasperated Facebook viewer asked online Thursday when Gov. Laura Kelly met with reporters to discuss new vaccine priority rankings.

Kansans older than 65 have been moved closer to the front of the line.

Distribution and use of the two approved COVID-19 vaccines have been a hit-or-miss proposition in many states, of course. Despite the unprecedented year-long pandemic, the U.S. was woefully unprepared for a nationwide mass-vaccination effort.

As of Thursday, more than 21.4 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine had been distributed to states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, only 5.9 million doses have ended up in patients’ arms. That’s roughly 250,000 shots a day.

It’s absurd. At the current rate, it would take the U.S. almost eight years to deliver two required doses to everyone. We can’t wait that long.

Kansas is not alone in its struggles. But the state seems to be uniquely underperforming, a recurring issue for Kelly and the administration she leads.

As of Thursday, Kansas was near the bottom of vaccinations per 100,000 residents, according to CDC figures. When pressed, state officials said the problem is the result of poor reporting, not in actual use of the vaccine.

As of Wednesday, Kelly said, more than 45,000 Kansans had been vaccinated. That’s less than 2% of the state’s population.

It isn’t as if Kansas officials were unaware the vaccine was coming. Preparations should have started months ago.

Kansas still lacks a robust digital dashboard where residents can find the number of vaccine doses received and administered, and get a rough estimate of when they might get the shot. The state health department says Kansas doesn’t have a vaccine dashboard because it would require a formal bid process.

What? That process should have started long ago. If it had, the dashboard would be available today, as it is in other states.

At the start of the pandemic, the Kelly administration appeared more proactive than most others. Now, the state seems to be reacting to events, to the detriment of those who live and work in Kansas.

And it’s part of a pattern. When the Kansas Department of Labor struggled to meet the needs of the unemployed, the governor blamed it on outdated computer technology. Early in the pandemic, Kansas blamed a lack of nasal swabs for slow testing.

The governor does not bear all of the responsibility here. Republicans in the Kansas Legislature demanded autonomy for counties’ COVID-19 efforts, yielding a slap-dash response when treatment and vaccinations became available. If the state was not sufficiently prepared for the pandemic, many counties were even less so.

You can’t cut the governor off at the knees and then assign her sole blame for stumbles.

Money is also an issue. The COVID-19 relief package passed late last year should provide additional resources to all states for vaccine distribution, and Kansas must be ready.

The time for dog-ate-my-homework excuses has long passed. During the past seven days, COVID-19 cases jumped 32% in Johnson County; deaths were up 141%. Yet testing volume has dropped 30%.

The governor should make vaccine distribution the state’s top COVID-19 priority. Kansas should tell residents where the vaccine is, when they can get a shot and how. Time is still short, and people are still getting sick.

This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 5:00 AM.