Kentucky residents ‘luck’ into getting COVID vaccine Walgreens did not need to expire

Providing these doses went “towards protocol,” the governor stated.

Members of the general public in Kentucky lucked into getting vaccinated for COVID-19 on Christmas Eve when native Walgreens shops had further doses that may have expired.

The surplus doses had been provided to native first responders, Walgreens workers and residents in Louisville and Lexington, a lot of whom the place older than 65, in accordance with Walgreens spokesperson Phil Caruso.

“COVID-19 vaccines will not be obtainable to most of the people right now,” Caruso stated in an announcement. “We skilled an remoted state of affairs wherein the quantity of vaccine doses requested by services exceeded the precise want.”

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear stated Monday that pharmacies in each cities had further doses of the vaccine after performing vaccinations in long-term care services and that providing these doses to the general public went towards protocol. It was unclear what number of non-priority individuals had obtained vaccines.

“I do not assume that this was intentional, and we’ve to know that in an enterprise this large that errors are going to occur,” Beshear stated.

Procedures are in place to verify “the best factor occurs subsequent time,” he added.

Kentucky is in Part 1A of vaccine distribution, which solely consists of well being care employees and other people in long-term care services. The state is predicted to maneuver into Part 1B in February, in accordance with the governor.

Throughout an interview with “Good Morning America” on Tuesday, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean at Brown College Faculty of Public Well being, spoke concerning the issue native well being departments are having distributing the vaccine with no nationwide plan or funding.

“The most important downside is getting the vaccine from the states into individuals’s arms,” Jha stated.

“We’re beginning to see departments of well being which are actually stretched having to attempt to determine methods to get all these vaccines into individuals and it is going way more slowly than I believe the federal authorities thought it might.”

ABC Information’ William Gretsky contributed to this report.

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