Gov. Ricketts talks COVID vaccine distribution plan

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — As Nebraska’s coronavirus cases and hospitalization rates continue to rise, access to a vaccine is becoming increasingly critical.

Governor Pete Ricketts spoke with CNBC on what plans are in place on how the vaccine will be distributed.

According to Gov. Ricketts, Nebraska could see a vaccine as soon as Dec. 12th. An early Christmas gift for healthcare workers, as it will likely be shipped directly to hospitals.

“I mean, makes a lot of sense, right? You want to start with long-term care workers, health care workers, people who are gonna be interfacing directly with people who are coronavirus positive,” commented Gov. Ricketts.

But, this all depends on whether the FDA approves Pfizer’s vaccine by early December, allowing the first batch of six million doses to be distributed across the nation.

Gov. Ricketts says Nebraska would receive this vaccine on a per capita basis, equating to about 38,000 doses.

The state is working on a vaccine distribution plan based on CDC guidelines. After healthcare workers, doses will likely go to long-term care facility residents and other vulnerable populations.

Of course, everyone has the right to opt-out of the vaccine, including healthcare workers.

“With regard to the healthcare workers themselves, if they are choosing not to get the vaccine, that’s really going to be a policy issue for that individual hospital to deal with it’s really not going to be something with the state are going to intervene,” explained Gov. Ricketts.

During the CNBC interview, Gov. Ricketts was also asked if a state-wide mask mandate was put into place, would we still be seeing these record-high hospitalizations in Nebraska?

“Well, we have great health measures that do include requiring masks in businesses where you have staff and patrons that are closer than six feet for 15 minutes which is really the appropriate use of a mask, right,” commented Gov. Ricketts. “So, the steps we have taken have really been based on the information that we had at the time we had it.’