Kentucky has expanded its COVID-19 booster shot guidelines, Gov. Andy Beshear said earlier this week.
The new guidelines recommend that individuals 65 and older, long-term care residents and people with medical conditions that increase their risk of severe coronavirus infection should receive a third dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine six months after their second shot, Beshear said.
People 18 to 64 who are likely to be exposed at their workplaces should also get a booster shot, Beshear said. For Kentuckians undergoing cancer treatment or taking a high dose of an immunosuppressant, a third shot is recommended at least 28 days after the second shot.
“What I want to do is clear up any confusion that’s out there and let you know who can get the boosters,” Beshear said. “If you are eligible, go get them. There are plenty of vaccine doses out there.”
At this time, no booster dose is recommended for those that received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
The Democratic governor appeared optimistic but guarded about the state’s dropping positivity rate. He credited the state’s vaccination rate as the impetus behind the recent decrease in cases.
“It appears that because of these vaccines, new cases may not only be plateauing, but we may be seeing a decrease in cases, hospitalizations and the positivity rate,” Beshear said.
Roughly 71 percent of all eligible Kentuckians have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Mason County, which has the highest vaccination rate in the five-county Buffalo Trace region, reached the 50 percent mark last week, according to Victor McKay, executive director of the Buffalo Trace District Health Department. In Bracken County, 46.5 percent of county residents have had at least one dose of vaccine, in Fleming County, that number stands at 50.1 percent, in Lewis County its 35.6 percent and in Robertson County, 36 percent.
In Ohio, 32.2 percent of Adams County residents have taken at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and in Brown County that number is 37.6 percent.
The current case count of COVID-19 being reported in area counties late Wednesday includes:
Mason County — 2,645 total cases, 193 active, 50 deaths.
Robertson County — 346 total cases, 20 active, 15 deaths.
Bracken County — 1,093 total cases, 67 active, 10 deaths.
Lewis County — 2,467 total cases, 171 active cases, 54 deaths.
Fleming County — 2,073 total cases, 62 active, 30 deaths.
Adams County, Ohio — 3,781 total cases, 76 deaths.
Brown County, Ohio — 5,825 total cases, 72 deaths.
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