Jan 20, 2021

Nebraska vaccine campaign moving faster in some rural areas

Posted Jan 20, 2021 5:06 PM

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska's campaign to vaccinate people for the coronavirus is further along in some rural parts of the state.

At least half a dozen health districts across the state have already started giving vaccines to seniors living outside long-term care facilities, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. Officials in Lincoln and Omaha are still working to vaccinate health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities.

Health districts based in Scottsbluff, Grand Island, Kearney, Dakota City and Burwell have all started to vaccinate older residents of the areas they serve.

State health officials have said they expected the campaign to progress at different rates throughout parts of Nebraska.

Overall, the state has administered 109,526 of the 192,078 doses of the vaccines it has received so far. Officials said Tuesday that more than 75,000 of the state's roughly 90,000 health care workers have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and shots have been administered at 428 long-term care facilities.

Nebraska reported limited numbers about the coronavirus Tuesday because the state's online virus tracking website is down for maintenance.

The state reported eight new deaths Tuesday for a total of 1,850 deaths. The number of new cases statewide wasn't released.

Health officials said the number of people hospitalized with the virus increased slightly Tuesday to 438 from the previous day's 429.