KDPH Releases First Draft COVID-19 Vaccination Plan

Under planning assumptions, the KDPH assumes limited COVID-19 vaccine doses may be available this year with increased supply in 2021.

(Frankfort, Ky.) – Health officials are hopeful that a COVID-19 vaccine is on the way, but who will receive it first and when? 

The Kentucky Department of Public Health has released a first draft of its COVID-19 Vaccination Plan.  

The 49-page document includes information on preparedness and planning for a vaccine, including allocation, ordering, distribution and inventory management. 

Under planning assumptions, the KDPH assumes limited COVID-19 vaccine doses may be available in late 2020, but COVID-19 vaccine supply will increase substantially in 2021.

The KDPH expects to receive a vaccine allocation based on Kentucky’s proportion of the U.S. population. Initially available COVID-19 vaccines will either be approved as licensed vaccines or authorized for use under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"The efficacy of vaccines that may be approved/authorized is uncertain at present and will not be known with certainty for some time," the COVID-19 Vaccination Plan reads. 

In addition, the KDPH says some of the candidate vaccines may require two doses to produce protective immunity.

Vaccines will be free of cost, and are expected to be distributed and administered via multiple pathways such as hospitals, medical offices, clinics, local health departments, pharmacies, and other locations.

Objectives of the plan:

· Ensure timely and equitable distribution of vaccine;

· Track vaccine use across the state;

· Monitor vaccine safety; and

· Ensure access to accurate and timely information on vaccine use and availability.

According to the COVID-19 Vaccination Plan, a vaccine will be allocated and administered according to “phases” where all groups designated for vaccination within a “phase” have equal priority for vaccination.

Phase 1

• High risk health workers
• First responders

Phase 1B

• People of all ages with comorbid and underlying conditions that put them at significantly higher risk
• Older individuals living in congregate or overcrowded settings

Phase 2

• K-12 teachers and school staff and childcare workers
• Critical workers in high-risk settings-workers who are in industries essential to the functioning of society and at substantially higher risk
• People of all ages with comorbid and underlying conditions that put them at moderately higher risk
• People in homeless shelters or group homes for individuals with disabilities, including serious mental illness, developmental and intellectual disabilities, and physical disabilities or in recovery, and staff who work in such settings.
• People in prisons, jails, detention centers and similar facilities, and staff who work in such settings
• All other adults not included in Phase 1

Phase 3

• Young adults
• Children
• Workers in industries and occupations important to the functioning of society and at increased risk of exposure not included in Phase 1 or 2

Phase 4

• Everyone residing in the U.S. who did not have access to the vaccine in previous phases

For more information, see the full COVID-19 Vaccination Plan below.  

.