The Barton County Health Department will conduct a drive-through COVID-19 vaccination clinic from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, April 12, at Brit Spaugh Park. Vehicles should enter the park on Williams Street.
The county has received Moderna COVID-19 vaccine booster doses for individuals who received their first dose on or before March 21, and for individuals who would like to receive their first dose.
It is not required, however, to expedite their vaccination, eligible persons may visit the website www.bartoncounty.org to download and complete the vaccine consent form found under the COVID 19 tab.
The health department originally planned to offer the Johnson & Johnson version of the vaccine as well. However, the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration have recommended a pause in the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, effective immediately.
Following this recommendation, the Barton County Health Department will not be offering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the drive-through event on Wednesday. However, the Moderna vaccine will be available to those individuals who are scheduled for their booster doses and for anyone who would like to receive their primary (first) dose.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced Tuesday that the state will pause administration of the Johnson & Johnson (Janseen) COVID-19 vaccine. The recommendation is based on a very small percentage of vaccine recipients developing rare and severe blood clots. Out of 6.8 million doses of Johnson & Johnson administered, six cases of blood clotting occurred in women between the ages of 18 and 48, and symptoms occurred six to 13 days after vaccination. COVID-19 vaccine safety is a top priority, officials said. CDC has convened a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to further review these cases and assess their potential significance. FDA will review that analysis as it also investigates these cases.
Governor Laura Kelly announced the state’s pause on administering that version of the vaccine, noting no known cases of the rare disorder involving blood clots within about two weeks of vaccination have been reported in Kansas to date.
“Just as important as getting vaccines into arms – is making sure those vaccines are safe,” Gov. Kelly said. “While this appears to have affected six people in the nearly seven million doses administered, out of an abundance of caution, Kansas will suspend Johnson & Johnson until the CDC and FDA clear it for use again. In the meantime, we anticipate our shipments of Pfizer and Moderna to continue and we will build on the one-third of Kansans who have already received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.”
As of Monday, 995,616 Kansans – 34.2% of the total population – have been vaccinated with one dose and 569,232 people have received a second dose.
To date, there have been 304,719 COVID-19 cases in Kansas, resulting in 9,872 hospitalizations and 4,930 statewide deaths as of Monday. There were 483 new cases, no new deaths and 20 new hospitalizations reported since Friday. In fact, the total death count was reduced by 8 on Monday. However, the number of deaths in area counties was unchanged.
The state showed one new confirmed or probable case each for Barton, Pawnee and Russell counties. Here are the total cases for area counties to date:
• Barton 2,596
• Ellsworth 1,216
• Pawnee 1,147
• Rush 431
• Russell 855
• Stafford 338
