Starting Tuesday, Wyandotte County residents who get vaccinated at the Unified Government Health Department clinic can receive a gift to take home or enter a contest to win a larger prize.
Those who are ages 12 to 17 can choose either a silver season pass to Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun or dinner for four and game passes for Dave and Buster’s.
Those who are 18 and older can enter a drawing for a chance to win a $500 Visa gift card. Three winning entries will be drawn each day that the Health Department is giving vaccinations. The prizes and gifts are available while supplies last.
“We want to provide another reason for people to consider getting vaccinated or getting tested now,” said Nicole Garner, UG Health Department planning and operations manager, in a news release. “We know not everyone is excited about the idea of getting vaccinated. For some people, maybe they have had bad experiences in healthcare settings before that make them not so eager to come in. For others, the possibility of side effects like headache or fatigue make them put off getting vaccinated. This is a way to encourage folks to consider making time to come in now, and thanking them for helping protect our community. Getting vaccinated helps protect you, but it also helps protect everyone around you. And testing is still important as well to help monitor and control the spread of COVID in our community.”
Incentives for COVID-19 tests also are available. Those who live in Wyandotte County and come in to a UG Health Department testing site for a COVID-19 test will receive a $25 Visa gift card (one gift card per person, while supplies last).
Those coming in to get vaccinated may get tested at the same time and receive a gift both for their test and their vaccination, according to a Health Department spokesman.
The Health Department primarily provides COVID-19 saliva tests (“spit tests” with no swab) but also has nasopharyngeal tests available (swab at the back of the nose and throat) for people who cannot produce enough saliva for the spit test.
Anyone age 12 or older who lives in Wyandotte County is eligible to get vaccinated and receive a gift. People of all ages who live in Wyandotte County are eligible to get tested and receive a gift. Minors should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Additional giveaways planned this summer
The UG Health Department is kicking off the #IHelpedConquerCOVID program with prizes this week, and will be offering different gifts and prizes in the coming months for people who live in Wyandotte County who choose to get vaccinated or tested.
More information will be released in the future about giveaways on the Health Department’s Facebook and Twitter (@UGHealthDept) pages or at WycoVacines.org.
UG vaccine clinic hours
The Health Department mass vaccination site hours will be changing in July. Based on what the Health Department is seeing with vaccination activity in Wyandotte County, the Health Department has decided to reduce to one stationary vaccination site (Kmart location) and to continue with a heavy focus on mobile vaccinations around the community, the spokesman stated.
Hours now through July 2:
• Kmart site (7836 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas) o Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Vaccine and testing incentives available.
• Armory site (100 S. 20th St., Kansas City, Kansas) o Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Vaccine and testing incentives available.
o Saturday, June 26, 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. This is the last Saturday vaccination clinic at the Armory. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine will be provided on Saturday, and is authorized for people ages 18 and older. Saturday clinics are provided in partnership with Donnelly College.
Hours beginning the week of July 5:
• Kmart site (7836 State Ave, Kansas City, Kansas) o Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Vaccine and testing incentives available.
• Closed.: Armory site (100 S. 20th St., Kansas City, Kansas)
Mobile vaccines can still be requested online at WycoVaccines.org or by calling 3-1-1 (913-573-5311).
Vaccines offer protection against variants
Vaccines offer protection against COVID-19 and variants, including the Alpha and Delta variants, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at the University of Kansas Health System.
It was thought at first that the Delta variant was spreading more than the original virus. However, Dr. Hawkinson said they don’t have enough information yet about the variants. A recent scientific paper stated that the variants did not cause more severe disease, he said.
Asked about an upswing in cases in southwestern Missouri, he said some predictions that certain areas would see a surge in COVID-19 patients were based on the vaccine uptake in the areas. Some rural communities have had a lower level of vaccinations, he said.
When people don’t mask and aren’t vaccinated is when they are vulnerable, said Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System. He said they are not seeing many masks being worn currently in southwest Missouri and also in the Kansas City area.
Dr. Hawkinson said people should remember the risks when they are indoors with people who aren’t wearing masks, who could be unvaccinated.
At the Monday morning news conference, Dr. Hawkinson encouraged students and youth to get vaccinated.
Other sites available for vaccinations
Vaccinations at KU Health System are open to the public. Current patients may use MyChart to make an appointment. Others may call 913-588-1227 or visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine to make an appointment to get vaccinated. KU Health System currently is vaccinating residents of Kansas and Missouri who are 12 or older, by appointment only. Those under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout the appointment.
There are also pharmacies giving free COVID-19 vaccinations in Wyandotte County by appointment, when available. These include Price Chopper and Hen House pharmacies, which are now also accepting walk-in vaccinations or appointments, and are starting vaccinations for age 12 and up at those pharmacies that are giving Pfizer vaccine (see https://www.ballsfoodspharmacy.com/).
CVS has announced walk-in appointments for COVID-19 vaccine at some of its stores. Those interested in getting a vaccination at a CVS pharmacy are asked to visit a CVS website in order to make sure there is vaccine available. The website is at www.cvs.com/. Walgreens and Walmart also were listed on www.vaccines.gov as giving vaccinations.
Other pharmacies and sites giving vaccines are listed at www.vaccines.gov. The website also tells whether vaccines are in stock at the locations.
Case numbers reported
There were 17 active COVID-19 patients on Monday morning at the University of Kansas Health System, an increase of three from Friday, according to Dr. Hawkinson. Of the patients, two were in the intensive care unit, a decrease of three from Friday. One patient was on a ventilator.
Wyandotte County reported an increase of seven COVID-19 cases on Monday, June 21, for a cumulative 18,994 cases, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was a cumulative total of 299 deaths reported, no change.
The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 176,338 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Monday in the Kansas City region. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 49. There were 2,524 cumulative deaths.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 316,695 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Monday, June 21, an increase of 156 cases since Friday. There was a total of 5,129 cumulative deaths reported statewide. There was a cumulative 10,980 hospitalizations, an increase of 21 since Friday.
According to KDHE figures, Johnson County had a cumulative 59,604 COVID-19 cases on Monday, June 21, an increase of 54 since Friday. Sedgwick County had a cumulative 57,780 COVID-19 cases on Monday, June 21, an increase of 48.
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Monday night reported 33,554,275 cumulative COVID-19 cases in the United States, with 602,092 total deaths reported nationwide. There were 3,892 new cases nationwide and 83 new deaths nationwide.
States with high numbers of new cases were California, 532; Missouri, 492; Arizona, 385; New York, 289; and Colorado, 272.
Countries with high numbers of new cases were India, 53,449; Brazil, 44,178; Colombia, 27,818; Russia, 17,367; and U.S., 3,892, according to Johns Hopkins information.
Free testing available
Besides Health Department sites, free COVID-19 testing is available at several locations in Wyandotte County.
Visit gogettested.com/Kansas for more sites.
Wyandotte County residents may contact the Health Department at wycohelp.org to sign up for a test to be delivered to their home.
For more details about free COVID-19 testing offered by the UG Health Department, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19, https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept or call 3-1-1.
The Health Department’s general contact page is at https://www.wycokck.org/Health/Contact.aspx. The department’s Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.
Testing sites are at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19. There are more test sites listed on this page.
Saliva testing is now offered at the UG Health Department. For more information, visit https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/02042021-ugphd-saliva-testing-available.pdf.
The University of Kansas Health System morning media update is online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/336001178229694.
The University of Kansas Health System COVID-19 update page is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/330310795391910.
A vaccine report for the state of Kansas is at
https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/123/Vaccine-Historical-Document-22521?bidId=.
The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.
The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.
The Wyandotte County page on the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 website is at https://bao.arcgis.com/covid-19/jhu/county/20209.html.
The Johns Hopkins Data in Motion, a presentation on critical COVID-19 data in the past 24 hours, is at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/covid-19-daily-video.