Regional vaccination centers launching February 2 focused on prioritizing senior population

The state announced the launch of the first four regional vaccination centers to increase the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.

On Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear said the first regional center would open February 2, and there will be more announcements coming in the coming weeks.

All vaccination centers, Beshear said, have been told to prioritize the 70-and-up population in the 1b bracket of the vaccination schedule and each location will have 3,000 open appointments in week one. 90% or more of vaccine allocations for each week are required to be distributed by each facility.

Kentucky Horse Park will be a vaccination location in partnership with Kroger where they will undertake the effort in the Alltech Arena with in-person indoor service to start with drive through options coming as weather gets warmer and vaccine availability increases.

The governor noted there are also two facilities opening in Paducah next week and one in Danville.

Jim Gray, the Kentucky Transportation Secretary who is also overseeing this effort, said the state has been working for six weeks on all the necessary logistics to ensure Kentuckians get the vaccine and asked that everyone remain patient while supply is still low.

The Beshear administration also announced the launch of a new website, vaccine.ky.gov, and hotline at 855-598-2246 to allow people to figure out when they are eligible and launched after the governor’s press conference.

For more information on vaccinations, visit kychamber.com/vaccines