Lincoln, Neb. – As of this morning, 36,253 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to those in Phase 1A priority group, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Phase 1A includes frontline health care workers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities. First doses have been given to roughly a third of the state’s health care population thus far, and continue to be targeted for hospital staff and health care workers providing direct patient care, as well as paramedics, emergency medical technicians, and those who will be vaccinating priority groups in the coming months.
Vaccinations for residents and staff of long-term care facilities began last week, with more than 100 on-site clinics held and additional outreach done by local health departments and community centers.
After shipping delays last week due to winter weather, more than 86,000 vaccine doses were received in Nebraska in the month of December. Of this supply, 63,000 doses are targeted for health care workers and 23,000 for residents and staff of long-term care facilities. In addition, the first shipment of second doses were received.
Additional vaccine shipments are scheduled to arrive this week, including 11,200 Moderna doses targeted for health care workers and 11,700 Pfizer doses designated for the federal pharmacy program to continue vaccination for residents and staff of long-term care facilities.
Planning is ongoing for future phases of the vaccination effort. Phase 1B is projected to begin later this month as supplies are made available. Phase 1B will begin with doses for those aged 75 and older, and be followed by workers in critical industries who are unable to work remotely. Vaccinations for the 75 and older population will be given via clinics led by local health departments, health care providers and pharmacies. DHHS will announce additional details in the weeks to come.
More detail on Phase 1A and 1B priority groups and other information is available by clicking the vaccine information tab on the DHHS Coronavirus site, http://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx.
DHHS has launched a COVID-19 Vaccination dashboard to share how Nebraska’s vaccination effort is progressing over time.
It provides a daily total of first and second dose vaccinations given, as well as breakdown of doses given by age, gender, race, and ethnicity. The dashboard also reports the percent of the population aged 16 and older completing COVID-19 vaccination. Thus far, COVID-19 vaccines have only been approved for use in those age 16 and older.
The dashboard also includes a timeline for COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Nebraska, displaying the phases and priority groups as reflected in the state’s COVID-19 vaccination plan. Priority groups and timing projections remain tentative and will be adjusted as new federal recommendations are issued and as vaccine shipments are scheduled.
A link to the COVID-19 Vaccination dashboard is at the top of the DHHS COVID-19 Cases dashboard, and is available at https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/ece0db09da4d4ca68252c3967aa1e9dd/page/page_1/
The vaccination dashboard is updated around 7 p.m. CT each evening with data from the prior day.