Today, Mayor Greg Fischer and Dr. SarahBeth Hartlage, Associate Medical Director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness, announced the expansion of vaccine eligibility for individuals in tier 1C and continued efforts to vaccinate the city’s international community.
Dr. Hartlage said the decision to transition fully to 1C aligns with the state following Governor Andy Beshear’s announcement Thursday evening. The change to phase 1C includes individuals ages 16-59 who have qualifying medical conditions and essential employees. Dr. Hartlage added that while the state will open to those 1C personnel, LouVax will continue its prioritization of individuals ages 60 and up as the Governor encouraged.
“Our primary focus right now is adults 60 and older,” Dr. Hartlage said. “We are hopeful we can finish this group by the end of March before beginning the transition to the remainder of phase 1C.”
Essential employers who would like to help their employees receive vaccinations can submit a form through Metro Public Health and Wellness. Dr. Hartlage said the form should only be filled out by human resource managers or senior leaders and not individual employees. She added that its intent is to assist with organizing groups of employees who could come through LouVax for vaccinations.
“We are grateful to our essential workers for keeping our community running for the past year,” Dr. Hartlage said. “The form is for human resources and senior managers to fill out as a primary contact. Once that is completed, our team will reach out to continue the process of collecting rosters to get employees scheduled for appointments here at LouVax.”
Here are the key stats for vaccinations in Metro Louisville:
- Citywide, 276,082 total doses have been administered between the LouVax site and its healthcare system community partners, Norton Healthcare, UofL Health and Baptist Health. Of that total number, 98,012 have completed both doses. This means that 36 percent of our Jefferson County residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 13 percent has completed the series.
- Through its LouVax site, the Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness Department has given 59,162 doses to date.
Second Doses for Leaders of International Community Begin
During today’s COVID-19 update, the LouVax site focused its efforts on vaccinating international community leaders and members arriving for their second dose of the Moderna vaccine.
Dr. Haleh Karimi, a lecturer at the University of Louisville College of Business, wants the local Muslim community to be aware of COVID-19 resources and said the pandemic changed many lives including hers.
“This past year of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased health issues such as depression and suicide,” Dr. Karimi said. “In order to get back to some kind of normalcy, this is the time to take the responsibility and do what we can to make our society a bit safer. We can do that in one little step by getting the vaccine, and I know the Persian community is working hard to do that.”
Mayor Fischer said he appreciated the city’s international community, and the efforts are important in communicating that the COVID vaccines are safe.
“Throughout this pandemic, we’ve focused on equity and outreach making sure every person, neighborhood and community has access to information, testing and other resources including the vaccine,” the Mayor said. “Our city’s immigrant communities have fueled our population growth for years, and they’re here to help us demonstrate that these vaccines are safe, reliable and the best way to keep our families safe, rebuild our economy and fully reopen our schools and eliminate COVID-19.”
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View Friday’s COVID-19 update here. The city’s COVID-19 data dashboard, a complete list of COVID-19 testing sites, vaccine information, prevention and contact tracing can be found at www.louisville.gov/covid19. The LOU HEALTH COVID19 Helpline is also available: 502- 912-8598
