KDHE threatened to withhold vaccines from Riley County (Kansas)

[PeteS in CA]

KDHE threatened to withhold vaccines from Riley County

https://sentinelksmo.org/kdhe-threatened-to-withhold-vaccines-from-riley-county/

Riley County officials confirm that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) threatened to withhold promised vaccine shipments if officials didn’t stop vaccinating people until other counties caught up. The county is about finished with Phase 2 and planned to begin Phase 3, vaccinating adults 18-64 with medical conditions that could lead to serious health complications from COVID-19.

Riley County officials intended to host vaccination events this week. They planned to provide the first of two doses to some of its most vulnerable citizens. But officials scrapped those plans after the Kelly administration warned it would halt vaccine shipments unless the county limited its efforts to Phase 2 eligible people.

According to Kansas’s state vaccination plan, high contact critical workers like grocery store workers, aviation manufacturers, retail and warehouse laborers, and those who work for the U.S. Postal Service and the Department of Motor Vehicles are eligible for shots in Phase 2. Phase 2 eligibility also extends to those over the age of 65, corrections facility inmates and staff, home caregivers, and congregate childcare institutions.

Riley County is home to Fort Riley and Kansas State University. How is punishing efficiency going to encourage nearby counties to be more efficient?

[Hoodat]

So Riley County is being penalized for doing a better job at distributing the vaccine than any other county.

[PeteS in CA]

Kelly admin calls withholding vaccines ‘enforcement mechanism’

https://sentinelksmo.org/kelly-admin-calls-withholding-vaccines-enforcement-mechanism/

Yesterday, we learned that KDHE ordered Riley County to stop vaccinating people until other counties caught up, and threatened to withhold future vaccine shipments.  Today, Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration admits they threaten to withhold promised vaccine doses as an enforcement mechanism; in this case, to deter counties that want to prioritize 64-year-old cancer patients over 22-year-old fast food workers.

Ashley Jones-Wisner, spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, told the Associated Press that withholding vaccines is “an enforcement mechanism.”

“The goal is to ensure that those at the highest risk of COVID-19 are prioritized for vaccination, and the vaccine is distributed across counties fairly,” she told the AP.

According to the CDC, Kansas ranks dead last in vaccine distribution among the 50 states as of March 3. To date, the state administered 64.23% of the vaccines it received. On average, states administered 74.89% of the doses they received.

The Kelly administration says the Kansas data lags reality, blaming technical and reporting challenges for the discrepancy. The excuses tire some Kansas lawmakers.

1. Yep, shielding mediocrity in the name of "equity". I've got a better idea: shame and ass-kick the mediocre!

2. "Blaming technical and reporting challenges for the discrepancy"; BS! I've been watching https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations for a couple of months, more or less daily. There are single-day minor anomalies occasionally due to "technical and reporting challenges", but they are not pervasive or long-lasting. I do not know or give a @#$% whether Goobernor Kelly has an "R" or "D" after her name, her "health" bureaucrats are not serving their citizens well! (I looked it up, she's a Dem)