The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reports that as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, Kansas has had 312,591 COVID-19 cases, resulting in 10,555 hospitalizations and 5,053 deaths. There were 518 new cases, 45 new hospitalizations and 13 new deaths reported since Monday, May 17.

Statewide, there are 45 SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest, 962 variants of concern and zero variants of high consequence. There are 55 counties with variants

Barton County has one case with a variant of concern, the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the United Kingdom. This is a change from last week’s report that Barton County had two such cases.

This variant has also been detected in one case where the person resides in Pawnee County, three cases in Rice County, one case in Ellsworth County, and one case in Russell County.

The reason it is listed as a variant of concern is because this variant has about 50% increased transmission as well as likely increased severity based on hospitalizations and case fatality rates.

The total confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and death counts for area counties as of Wednesday are:

• Barton 2,617 cases (+1 since Wednesday, May 12) - 49

• Ellsworth 1,222 (+1) - 26 (+1)

• Pawnee 1,168 (+2) - 13

• Rice 1,076 (-) - 12

• Rush 431 (-) - 14

• Russell 860 (+1) - 28 (-1)

• Stafford 343 (+1) - 9

Cluster summary

KDHE releases the names of locations that have five or more cases with symptom-onset dates in the last 14 days every Wednesday. The only such location this week was Comfort Care, a long-term care facility in Wichita, with five cases within the last 14 days. The last onset date was May 17.

Vaccinations

KDHE reports that as of Wednesday, 1,178,999 Kansans – 40.5% of the total population – have been vaccinated with one dose and 920,297 people have received a second dose.

For people age 16 and above in area counties, the percentage of people vaccinated with at least one dose is shown, followed by the percentage who have completed the vaccine series:

• Barton 41.97 - 36.90

• Ellsworth 52.06 - 42.69

• Pawnee 47.58 - 42.17

• Rice 41.55 - 34.83

• Rush 46.95 - 42.81

• Russell 42.89 - 38.08

• Stafford 42.66 - 39.31

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is now available for ages 12+ in Kansas. The decision comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) authorized the vaccine as safe and effective for teenagers.

To find a vaccine provider near you, visit vaccines.gov or text your zip code to 438829 (GETVAX). Parental consent is required for anyone under the age of 18.