OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The pace of coronavirus vaccinations is slowing down across Nebraska as the state reported less than 100,000 shots were given in a week for the first time this month.
State health officials said 93,284 doses of the vaccines were administered last week in Nebraska. That is less than half the 211,057 doses the state reported a week earlier. In each of the two previous weeks, roughly 120,000 doses of the shots were given statewide.
“Unfortunately what’s happened, and we’ve really seen this happen across the entire state is we’ve hit this wall where there’s not the urge that there was,” said Terra Uhing, executive director of Three Rivers Public Health, which serves Dodge Saunders and Washington counties in eastern Nebraska.
Health departments across the state have started offering more walk-in clinics for the shots instead of requiring appointments to make it easier to get vaccinated. The state said 40.8% of Nebraska’s population aged 16 or older has been vaccinated so far, and nearly 1.4 million shots have been given.
State health officials continue to urge Nebraskans to sign up for a shot online at vaccinate.ne.gov but in the past week only 4,375 people did that. So far, a total of 375,906 people have registered on that site.
The vaccines are also available at a number of local pharmacies across the state, including at Hy-Vees, Walmarts and other local outlets, through the federal retail pharmacy program.
