CDC says one-third of Kansans have gotten a COVID vaccine, 80% of senior citizens
More than 80% of Kansans aged 65 and older have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, ranking Kansas as the 10th-best state.
“Kansas is one of thirteen states leading on vaccinating our seniors,” Gov. Laura Kelly said in a tweet, referring to states with 80% or more seniors vaccinated with at least one dose. “This is how we get Kansans back to work, our kids back to school — and our state back to normal.”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine data as of Monday showed that 80.8% of senior citizens in Kansas have been vaccinated with at least one dose and 56.6% have been fully vaccinated. The vaccination rates rank 10th and 24th, respectively, out of 50 states.
The early phases of the Kelly administration’s vaccine rollout prioritized senior citizens, who have a greater risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death from the coronavirus disease. Last week, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment opened vaccine eligibility to everyone aged 16 and older who lives or works in the state.
Kansas ranks lower when including younger adults, as well as the entire population.
Kansas has the 12th-best rate of one-dose vaccinations among adults, at 43.1% of people aged 18 and older. The CDC reports that just over one-third of the state’s entire population — 33.9% — have received at least one dose. That ranks Kansas as No. 21 of 50.
When ranked by fully vaccinated rates, Kansas is 28th at 19.2% of the entire population and 23rd at 24.2% of the adult population.
The rate of doses administered per capita continues to improve while still ranking in the bottom half of the country. The CDC on Monday had Kansas ranked No. 32 at doses per 100,000 people, compared to No. 34 last Monday, No. 37 the week before and No. 42 three weeks ago.
Kansas has received the 16th-most doses per capita, according to the CDC.
Sedgwick County has improved its CDC vaccination rankings slightly.
Sedgwick County now has the third-worst rate of total population fully vaccinated, at 11.8%, compared to ranking the worst of 105 counties in Kansas a week ago. Sedgwick County also had the worst rate of fully vaccinated adults last Monday, but has improved to second-worst, at 14.8%.
Sedgwick County has 39.7% of its seniors fully vaccinated, ranking seventh-worst, up from third-worst.
COVID indicators
No new deaths from the coronavirus disease were reported in Kansas over the weekend.
The KDHE on Monday reported pandemic totals of 303,227 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases, 9,785 hospitalizations, 2,688 ICU admissions and 4,927 deaths. The weekend increases were 354 new cases, 32 new hospitalizations, two new ICU admissions and zero new deaths.
The total statewide COVID-19 death count dropped by five from Friday’s report.
“Please note, the decrease in deaths is attributed to the review of death certificates,” the KDHE said in Monday’s summary report. “Deaths initially reported to KDHE/Local Health Departments as COVID-19 related, were identified during the review process as not having COVID-19 as the main cause or contributing cause of death. This is a normal process that occurs.”
In Sedgwick County, the KDHE reported totals of 54,913 cases, 1,593 hospitalizations, 490 ICU admissions and 735 deaths. The increases since Friday were 52 new cases, 14 new hospitalizations, and one new ICU admission. While there were no new COVID-19 deaths in Kansas, the Sedgwick County death total rose by one, suggesting the death may have previously been counted in another county.
State and local vaccine data
The CDC reports a higher vaccination rate in Kansas than the KDHE.
The KDHE on Monday reported 1,373,913 total doses administered out of 1,754,460 doses distributed to the state.
The 895,716 people vaccinated with one dose are 30.7% of the population, and the 509,633 people who have been fully vaccinated are 17.5% of the population. Over the weekend, there were 27,425 first doses administered and 25,061 more people fully vaccinated.
The KDHE is distributing 18,270 doses to Sedgwick County this week.
Sedgwick County Health Department has administered 145,706 shots and fully vaccinated 47,913 people. Those numbers do not include other providers in the county.
This story was originally published April 5, 2021 at 3:26 PM.