Two regional hospitals have received their first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine designed to immunize front line health care workers.
Baptist Health in Madisonville received its first shipment of the vaccine on Tuesday, and Mercy Health-Lourdes Hospital in Paducah accepted its delivery Wednesday.
They are two of 11 hospitals in the state that received the first shipments of the Pfizer vaccine. Governor Andy Beshear said he expects the Moderna vaccine to arrive in the next two weeks with those shipments designed for long term care facilities.
On Wednesday, the state reported 2,898 new cases of the coronavirus which is the fewest for a Wednesday since November 18. The state’s positivity rate was 8.5-percent for a fourth straight day. Kentucky’s average of tests given per day is just over 24,000.
While the number of cases appears to be ticking down, the same can’t be said for COVID-related hospitalizations which are closing in on 1,800 for only the second time. The 1,793 people hospitalized is the second-most in a day, and the ICU census of 460 set a new record high.
Kentucky also reported 23 deaths Wednesday marking the 18th straight day of double-digit deaths in the state. There have been 353 deaths in December linked to the virus which is already more than any previous month except November.
