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COVID-19 vaccination rate remains steady in Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The state’s COVID-19 vaccination rate remains steady, Gov. Andy Beshear said in a July 8 update, and thousands of Kentuckians have signed up for the Shot at a Million incentive drawing following the state’s first drawing last week.

Since then, more than 177,000 adult Kentuckians have registered for the $1 million prize and more than 5,000 Kentuckians ages 12 to 17 registered for a full-ride scholarship.

Dr. Steven Stack, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, joined Beshear to provide an update on the state of COVID-19 in Kentucky. After eight weeks of decreasing cases in Kentucky, Stack said, cases and the positivity rate increased last week. To protect everyone and be able to keep taking part in activities they enjoy, he encouraged all Kentuckians, especially younger Kentuckians, to get vaccinated.

“If you have a football team with 50 people on it, think about a high school varsity football team, if 20% are vaccinated and 80% are not, here’s what could happen. If you’re in a locker room with all these kids for more than 15 minutes, and you have one positive case, every single one of those players will count as an exposure, because they’re probably all unmasked and close together. If your team is only 20% vaccinated, that means 40 of the students have to be quarantined, and you can’t field a team with just 10 players,” Stack said. “Here’s the bottom line for students, parents and coaches: if you want to stay safe and on top of that, play sports, the single best thing you can do is go out and get vaccinated.”

Team Kentucky Memorial

The governor also announced the next phase in creating a permanent Team Kentucky Memorial to honor Kentuckians lost to COVID-19. To date, more than 80 artists have indicated interest in designing the memorial. A panel of experts from state government and local art organizations selected 11 finalists that will now submit in-depth proposals for their vision. The governor will be creating a Team Kentucky Memorial Community Advisory Panel, which will include family members and loved ones of those lost, health care heroes, first responders and COVID-19 survivors, to select the final design. For more information and to apply to be on the panel, visit tah.ky.gov.

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