photo by: Lauren Fox

There were 10 drive-thru vaccine stations and one walk-up vaccine station inside the arena at the Douglas County Fairgrounds on Jan. 29, 2021.

Story updated at 5:23 p.m. Friday

Data from four local health organizations showed that nearly 12,000 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in Douglas County as of Thursday.

Karrey Britt, spokesperson for Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, sent data compiled from reports by LMH Health, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, Haskell Indian Health Center and Heartland Community Health Center.

The data shows that these four organizations have administered 11,892 of the 13,840 first doses they have received, or 85.9%. The four organizations have also administered 1,716 of the 9,180 second doses they have received, or 18.7%.

Britt said the percentage of second doses that had been administered was smaller because agencies must wait until the appropriate time to administer the second dose. The second Pfizer vaccine dose is meant to be administered 21 days after the first dose, and the second Moderna vaccine dose is meant to be administered 28 days after the first dose. Britt said that mass vaccination clinics for second doses were scheduled to begin in about two weeks.

Although the county currently does not have enough second doses to match up with the number of first doses already administered, Britt said Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health had received about 1,950 doses each week for the past few weeks.

With both first and second doses, those four Douglas County organizations had administered 13,608 total doses as of Thursday.

The data showed that the county has received and administered more doses of the Pfizer vaccine than the Moderna vaccine. The four organizations have received 9,010 first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and administered 7,062. For the second doses, 802 out of the 4,580 doses have been administered. As for the Moderna vaccine, the four organizations have received 4,830 first doses and distributed all of them. For the second doses, 914 out of the 4,600 have been administered.

Other organizations have started to get involved in distributing COVID-19 vaccine doses in Douglas County. As the Journal-World reported, Walmart and Dillons will soon begin to administer some doses through the U.S. Federal Retail Pharmacy Program.

Britt said Dillons and Walmart would be receiving vaccines directly from the federal government and distributing them through their own plans and systems. Those doses will not be included in the county’s numbers. Additionally, Britt said that Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health had been working with some local pharmacies to provide vaccinations in places such as long-term care facilities and congregate living settings. These doses come through the health department and are included in the numbers provided above.

15 new COVID-19 cases in county

Douglas County reported 8,424 cases of COVID-19 as of Friday, an increase of 15 cases since Thursday.

In Douglas County, 7,918 out of the 8,424 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, meaning 506 cases are active.

The county has averaged about 21 new cases per day over the last 14 days, according to a 14-day moving average graph updated weekdays by the health department. The current average of 20.86 new cases per day is down from a recent high of 70 cases per day in early January.

Douglas County has a 14-day COVID-19 incidence rate of 242.75 per 100,000 people. Seven patients at Lawrence’s hospital had COVID-19 on Friday, two more than Thursday.

Anyone who has not completed Douglas County’s vaccine interest form may do so online at dgcoks.org/vaccineinterestform. Any residents who do not have internet access or who need help filling out the form may contact the Senior Resource Center at 785-842-0543 and leave a message. Staff will return calls during business hours in the order calls are received.

photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

Feb. 12 COVID-19 update from the health department