Kansas orders less than 1% of its COVID vaccine allocation

TOPEKA — Kansas ordered less than 1% of its vaccine allocation from the federal government for this week, the state health department reported Friday.

The disclosure came as the department’s data showed that Kansas still had nearly 593,000 unused doses as of Friday, about 21% of the 2.8 million shipped to the state.

Demand for inoculations has dropped, prompting the state and county health departments to increase mobile clinics and bring vaccines to churches and work sites.

The state, Wyandotte County and the University of Kansas Health System partnered with Kansas Speedway to promote vaccinations Thursday and Friday at the Kansas City, Kan., NASCAR track. The speedway offered people who got vaccinated two laps around its track and entered them in a raffle for prizes that included tickets to the NASCAR Cup Series race there in October.

The state health department said it ordered only 1,020 or 0.7% of its federal allocation of 147,660 vaccine doses for this week.

Its data showed that an average of 4,348 vaccine shots a day were administered during the seven days ending Friday, its lowest seven-day average since Jan. 21.

The department said 42.5% of the state’s 2.9 million residents had received at least one vaccine shot as of Friday.

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