photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

May 12, 2021, COVID-19 update from the health department

Story updated at 6:32 p.m. Wednesday:

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is now available to children 12 and older in Kansas, Gov. Laura Kelly announced Wednesday in a news release.

The announcement comes the same day as federal health advisers endorsed the use of the vaccine in younger adolescents. Kelly said in the release that with the experts’ recommendations, “my administration is confident that opening the vaccine to young Kansans is the right move.”

The release said that people under 18 need written parental consent for vaccination.

In other COVID-19 news and notes:

Sunday shot clinic moving indoors

The location for Sunday’s COVID-19 clinic with Spanish-speaking staff has been moved because inclement weather is expected, Douglas County’s health department said Wednesday.

Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health will now host its Sunday clinic at the Community Building, 115 W. 11th St., from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The clinic was previously supposed to be held in South Park, and the health department will have people stationed in the park on Sunday to help direct people to the Community Building.

10 new cases in county

Douglas County reported 9,264 cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, an increase of 10 cases since Monday.

In Douglas County, 9,063 of the 9,264 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, meaning 201 cases are active.

The county has averaged about five 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 5.29 cases is the lowest average the county has seen since June and is down from a recent high of nine cases per day in April.

Douglas County has a 14-day COVID-19 incidence rate of 61.52 per 100,000 people and a test positivity rate of 2%. Positivity rates are 2.2% in Lawrence, 1.3% in Eudora and 0% in Baldwin City and Lecompton. One patient at Lawrence’s hospital had COVID-19 on Wednesday, four fewer than Monday. To date, 87 Douglas County residents have died from COVID-19.

Registration for vaccination clinics at LMH Health is open to the public, and registration codes are posted at LDCHealth.org/COVIDVaccine and Douglascountyks.org/Coronavirus. Community members may also get a vaccine at LMH Health without making an appointment. Any residents with questions about COVID-19 or the vaccine interest form may call Douglas County’s help line at 785-864-9000.