Nebraska expects more than 60,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines to be available in the state this week.
The Department of Health and Human Services said it expects to receive 59,450 doses of the vaccines this week as officials continue to focus on vaccinating everyone 65 and older across Nebraska.
It’s not yet clear how many doses will be allocated this week to a new federal program that is distributing some virus shots through select pharmacies.
Last week, that program received 5,700 doses of the vaccines.
Nebraska will move to vaccinating the general population for COVID-19 as soon as April.
Felicia Quintana-Zinn with the Governor’s office says they’re continuing to focus on older populations in the state first since data represents they hold a bigger burden.
“Those 50 to 64 years-old will be prioritized followed by the remainder of the pupation 16 to 49-years-old,” she said.
She says mortality data drove the decision to prioritize the groups in the general population.
Angie Ling, incident commander for DHHS, says the reason is because by April the state will have an increase in doses.
“From what we’re hearing from our federal partners, is that wit the increase, we’re expecting and increase in Pfizer and Moderna production and we’re also anticipating Johnson and Johnson EUA,” Ling said.
The state is still prioritizing people 65 and older in Phase 1B.