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County remains in the ‘red zone’

Lincoln County will begin the Phase 1b of COVID-19 vaccinations this week. That group includes school personnel and first responders.

Lincoln County Health Department (LCHD) Director Diane Miller said Tuesday that Phase 1B of the COVID-19 vaccination schedule is expected to begin Wednesday.

The health department has already administered 101 vaccines to healthcare workers and first responders as part of Phase 1A. The individual phases are part of the state’s overall vaccine distribution plan.

This second phase will continue the vaccination of first responders and frontline essential workers.

“The vaccine that we have now is prioritized for school personnel,” Miller said.

Once front line staff, healthcare workers and first responders have received their vaccinations, then the vaccination will be administered to those 70 years or older, Miller said.

Miller is currently asking anyone 70 years or older with interest in receiving the vaccine to call the health department to pre-register.

“I’m doing this to determine how many are interested in getting vaccinated; it does not mean that we have the vaccine at the moment to start vaccinating that population,” she said.
LCHD will be administering the Moderna vaccine, Miller said, which will require two separate shots, 28 days apart.

“When you do get vaccinated, you still need to wear your mask,” she said. “Just because you’re getting vaccinated doesn’t mean you take away the mask because our system has to have the time to build the immunity.”

Lincoln County remains in the ‘red zone’ on the state incidence rate map this week, Miller said, with a 37.8 percent daily incidence rate.

The Kentucky Department of Health COVID-19 incident-rate map, which is published daily, classifies counties into four groups including ‘green,’ ‘yellow,’ ‘orange’ and ‘red.’

The map calculates the daily average of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days. To be placed in the red zone, a county must have more than 25 cases per 100,000 residents.

As of Tuesday morning, LCHD reported 176 active cases of the novel coronavirus. Miller said the health department is monitoring 101 contacts to those cases.

Lincoln County is reporting a total of 29 deaths related to COVID-19 and Miller said she is sending two more deaths to the state for review this week.

SO YOU KNOW
The Lincoln County Health Department can be reached at 606-365-3106. For more information on COVID-19 visit www.kycovid19.ky.gov