LINCOLN – Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts continued his weekly press briefings following the past two weeks of holidays.
From the Governor’s Hearing Room in the Nebraska State Capitol, Ricketts provided updates on the work the State of Nebraska is doing to slow the spread of the coronavirus and protect hospitals.
While hospitalizations are down and the state is in their blue category (75% attendance limited for indoor venues) of the Directed Health Measure, Governor Ricketts reminds Nebraskans to continue to practice all the tools that slow the spread of the virus.
“Right now, we are at 36% of our hospital beds, 36% of our ICU beds are available and 76% of our ventilators are available,” said Ricketts. “So, we want to make sure we continue to be able to provide that hospital bed, that ICU bed, that ventilator to anybody who needs it when they need it. All of this can be a part of the solution to be able to help slow that down.”
Over 579,000 test results have been delivered through Test Nebraska. Visit testnebraska.com to find a place to get scheduled for a test.
Angie Ling, Incident Commander with the Department of Health and Human Services also provided more information about the Coronavirus Vaccination.
The state has received 63,070 primary doses and 23,400 primary doses to the Federal Pharmacy Program for Long-term Care facilities which brings the total of 86,470 in the month of December. The state will receive another 11,200 of Moderna (health care providers) and 11,700 Pfizer (Federal Pharmacy Program) this week.
Ling added in preparation for Phase 1-B, DHHS officials will be working with both the local health departments and community partners to assist with vaccinations.
“Citizens age 75 and older will be the priority for Phase 1-B,” Ling added. “Vaccinations will be accomplished through multiple methods such as community vaccine clinics with the local health departments, healthcare providers and pharmacy partners. We are still finalizing those details and will get this information out as soon as possible.”
In most areas, this phase will not start for another few weeks. A website will also be introduced in the coming weeks for citizens to register for vaccinations.
Find the prioritized tiers for Phase 1-A and Phase 1-B on the DHHS website under ‘vaccine information’.
Over 36,000 vaccines have been delivered mainly to healthcare workers and staff and residents in long-term care facilities.
Other press conferences this week will be held on Wednesday, January 6 at 9:30 a.m. and Friday, January 8 at 10 a.m.