About 50,000 first doses and 30,000 second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Douglas County as of last week, local public health officials said Monday.

Douglas County remains the most vaccinated county in Kansas. At the latest Publish Health Board meeting, Director Dan Partridge said the county recently told the state to stop sending additional doses so the vaccines that the county has won’t go to waste. 

This week, approximately 1,200 more residents will be vaccinated at the county’s three mass vaccination clinics at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. Partridge said these clinics will wrap up next week. 

The county will then begin to focus on how to reach residents who are hesitant to receive the vaccine and provide vaccination services on a smaller scale through LMH Health. 

“When we look at the clinics for next week and next, all but a few dozen are dose 2 people,” Partridge said. “The number of people receiving a first dose is just a few hundred a week.” 

The 65-74 age group is currently the highest vaccinated age group in Douglas County, with the 18-24 age group being the least at only 4,417 out of 28,412 residents. 

Out of 7,849 residents in the 66025 zip code area that includes Eudora, 2,873 have been vaccinated, according to the most recent public health reports. 

Women in Douglas County have been vaccinated at a higher rate than men, with 31,058 vaccinated women and 23,340 vaccinated men. 

Partridge said the county will work toward getting creative on outreach efforts and pushing for the county’s younger population, which makes up the largest age group in Douglas County, to get vaccinated. 

“We’re pivoting to, ‘How do we reach out the community in a targeted way that brings services to people?’” Partridge said. “The strategy so far has been ‘find your way to the fairgrounds or find your way to LMH’. We know we have to pivot to a more ‘meet people where they are’ strategy.”

Reach reporter Lucie Krisman at [email protected].

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