The Riley County Health Department says it is prioritizing those with severe medical conditions as it looks to continue vaccinating residents 65 and older.
Those who are in that age group and don’t have qualifying medical conditions will receive their vaccines according to the order in which they signed up. The full list of qualifying conditions is below.
The adjustment comes after a shaky start to phase two last week, which overwhelmed health care works and led to long wait times. Some even had to be turned away.
The health department stresses that at no time have they randomly chosen who will be vaccinated. To date, more than 10,000 people have registered to receive the vaccine.
Qualifying medical conditions for prioritization include: Cancer, chronic kidney disease, obesity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, down syndrome, heart conditions such as cardiomyopathies, immunocompromised state from solid organ transplant, type 2 diabetes mellitus, sickle cell disease, pregnant, asthma – moderate to severe, cerebrovascular disease – affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain, cystic fibrosis, immunocompromised state – weakened immune system from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune weakening medicines, neurologic conditions such as dementia, liver disease, pulmonary fibrosis – have damaged or scarred lung tissues, thalassemia – a type of blood disorder, type 1 diabetes mellitus.
