TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas' top public health administrator told legislators Monday that the state could distribute five times as many COVID-19 vaccine doses as it is receiving now from the federal government.
Dr. Lee Norman, head of the state health department, said the biggest issue facing Kansas in getting people inoculated is the vaccine supply. His comments came four days after President Joe Biden vowed to make all adult Americans eligible for vaccinations by May 1.
The GOP-controlled Legislature has criticized what it sees as a slow distribution of vaccines by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's administration. Kelly and Norman have said Kansas has had trouble keeping up with recording shots.
The health department's timetable anticipates that vaccinations won't be available for all Kansas residents 16 and older until June. Norman said the state is receiving between 140,000 and 150,000 vaccine doses a week.
"The federal supply continues to be the largest barrier," Norman told the Senate health committee during a briefing. "Probably, without even working overly hard at it - five times the amount, if it would come to us, we would be able to push it out."
He added: "We have enough vaccinating sites, probably, for 10 times the amount of vaccine that we're currently getting."
