Gov. Andy Beshear reported 15,163 Kentucky children received their first dose in the first full week that COVID-19 vaccinations were open to 5- to- 11-year-olds, and he expects that number to double in the second week.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) Nov. 3 for the age group to get the Pfizer shots.
Beshear is urging more parents and caretakers to get their children vaccinated, as that age group now has the second highest positivity rate in Kentucky.
“If you have a 5- to 11-year-old, they are significantly more likely to get COVID [now] than at any other point in the pandemic,” Beshear said Monday during a weekly news conference.
He said though the state’s overall positivity rate has plateaued with a Monday positivity rate at 5.73% and hospital and ICU admissions have plateaued as well, it’s not time to relax.
Safety precautions such as universal masking in schools and continued vaccinations and boosters should continue, he added, as colder weather approaches and as European countries have started to see a rise in cases again.
As of Monday, the governor reported a total of 425,401 Kentuckians who have received their booster shots.
There were 1,561 new cases and four deaths reported Saturday statewide, 747 cases and 11 deaths reported Sunday and 726 new cases and 10 deaths reported Monday.
