OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska will receive 21% more doses of coronavirus vaccines this week as the state continues to work to speed up distribution of the shots.
The state said it is scheduled to receive 55,950 doses of the vaccines this week. That is up from 46,400 a week ago.
The increase in doses should help boost distribution of the vaccine statewide. The 19 local health districts across Nebraska are finishing up the first phase of the campaign when health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities were the focus, and now they are all starting to vaccinate people 65 and older and some essential workers.
The state said 3.9% of the state's population has now received both required doses of one of the two vaccines. Nebraska has administered 207,111 of the 300,400 doses it has been allocated so far.
The number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus declined Wednesday to 278 from Tuesday's 305. That total has fallen steadily since the November peak of 987.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska decreased over the past two weeks, going from 806.86 new cases per day on Jan. 20 to 560 new cases per day on Wednesday. The state said 192,549 virus cases and 1,952 deaths have been reported in the state since the pandemic began.