After a bumpy early rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, Sedgwick County says it expects to begin receiving regular shipments.
The county will receive 7,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment each week.
County officials hope the regular arrival of vaccines will allow the county to offer them to more residents. Distribution of the vaccine to counties has so far been unpredictable and with short notice, said county commission Chairman Pete Meitzner.
“We get a call on a Tuesday, ‘Hey, on Thursday you’re going to get so many,’ and the state’s been the same. They don’t know when they’re gonna get ‘em, how many,” he said.
“But I think there’s gonna be some disciplined advanced notice so people can plan.”
The county this week began offering the vaccine to residents 80 and older through Phase 2 of the distribution plan, as well as health care associated workers. That’s still short of the intended reach of everyone 65 and older as laid out in the state’s vaccine plan.
County health officer Garold Minns says the county doesn’t yet have the 110,000 doses needed to vaccinate all residents 65 and older.
“We’re working our way down in age as we receive more vaccine,” he said.
Minns reiterated that vaccine distribution will be a “marathon, not a sprint,” but stressed that eventually, anyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one.
People can schedule a walk-in or drive-through appointment at sedgwickcounty.org or by calling 316-660-1029.