LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Friday, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and other health officials provided an update on COVID-19 vaccination efforts underway at Broadbent Arena.
This is the second week the site has been in use, 6,000 people are expected to be vaccinated at the site by the end of the day and close to 30,000 doses have been given to residents of Jefferson County.
Louisville Metro Public Health Interim Medical Director Dr. SarahBeth Hartlage announced that Jefferson Co. is now moving into Phase 1B of the Commonwealth's vaccine plan beginning next week.
This phase includes first responders, corrections officers, essential utility workers, anyone age 70 or older and K-12 school personnel.
"We're really distinguishing ourselves among the cities of America and the states of America with what we're doing with getting these vaccines out as quickly as possible can," Fischer said.
The first teachers in Louisville will be vaccinated at the Broadbent arena site beginning Jan. 22.
Vaccination for educators in Jefferson Co. Public Schools (JCPS) will begin in alphabetical order starting with elementary schools. At this time, 13,000 employees in the school system have requested to receive the vaccine.
JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio highlighted that Kentucky is one of a few states where educators know when they will be vaccinated.
“For me, this is just the most exciting news we’ve had in such a long time,” Bowen Elementary principal Lisa Wathen said.
Working virtually with elementary school students has been difficult for Wathen and her staff. The youngest learners typically move quickly from task to task to stay engaged, but that has been isn’t easy with virtual learning.
“Nothing replaces the human interaction that our kids need, the student-to-student interaction, but also our interaction with the kids,” Wathen said.
Dr. Pollio said that as teacher vaccination efforts continue, a board meeting may be called for a possible reopening recommendation.
"We know this is a huge step forward for getting there and we look forward to that," said Pollio. "I'm so thankful that we can be on the offense and we can begin to look forward to opening our schools in-person now sooner rather than later."
Dr. Hartlage said the efforts to vaccinate all educators will continue for several weeks given the size of the group.
Signups for Jefferson Co. residents over the age of 70 to receive the vaccine begin today and the first appointments will be available on Jan. 19.
Hartlage noted that local hospitals will be carrying the major share of vaccination efforts for these individuals.
There are 100,000 people in this age group in Louisville. There won’t be any priority given for seniors with preexisting conditions, but the health department has taken some factors into consideration when making appointments.
“We are using an equity lens to try and focus on zip codes that have been hit the hardest from COVID and areas of the city that we know are disadvantaged and struggle with health care access,” Dr. Hartlage said.
To find vaccine appointments for individuals over 70 visit Louisville Metro's COVID-19 website and click the 'Vaccine' tab. Individuals will find appointments available from local hospitals like Norton Healthcare, UofL Health and Baptist Health.
Harlage expects the number of available appointments for this group to be 10,000 per week. There already 30,000 people on the interest list.
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