MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is anticipating getting 90,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine next week, double what the state was receiving just two weeks ago, Gov. Laura Kelly announced Friday.
As of Friday, 9.4% of the state's population had been vaccinated, with 273,428 people receiving at least the first of two required doses, state health data showed.
"We are continuing to urge the federal government to increase the number of vaccines we receive and they are actually doing so," Kelly said in her biweekly call with elected officials.
The number of cases has dropped dramatically in recent weeks. The state's health department added 1,208 new confirmed cases from Wednesday to Friday, pushing the state's pandemic total to 286,102. The number of deaths rose by 61 to 4,364.
The number of hospitalized patients also is dropping and staffing problems are improving as the rollout continues.
Lee Norman, the head of the state's health department, said that one hospital had seen the number of staff members who were out because of COVID-19 illnesses or quarantines drop into the single digits from an average of 80 to 90.
"Staff are back and healthy and absenteeism is extremely low," Norman said.
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