Kentucky took the next step on Thursday in expanding COVID vaccination availabilities. Regional vaccination sites will open on Tuesday in Lexington, Paducah and Danville. Additionally, the state created a new website and hotline to clarify a person’s tier and identify the closest available shot location.

Kroger will manage and operate a regional location at the Alltech Arena in the Kentucky Horse Park. Other locations opening on February 2 include Lourdes Hospital and Western Baptist in Paducah and Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center in Danville.

You can schedule a shot at the Kroger-operated regional location at Kroger.com/CovidVaccine or by calling 866-211-5320. Individuals can call 855-598-2246 (toll-free) for help scheduling an appointment at any of the four regional locations and to get information on your eligibility. Kentuckians can also check vaccine.ky.gov to determine their tier and to register to be notified when they are eligible to receive the shot.

Regional clinics are currently only scheduling for people who are 70 and older and others in the 1A and 1B tiers. Those locations will make appointments for the next three weeks. New days will be added at the end of the schedule on a daily basis. Transportation Secretary Jim Gray, who is heading up Kentucky’s vaccination effort, stressed on Thursday that people must have an appointment before arriving at any regional location.

The governor reported that he will unveil four new regional locations every Thursday. While anyone can schedule an appointment at any location, Beshear urged people to only get on a waiting list at their closest location.

Thursday’s COVID report included 2,947 new cases, the lowest Thursday in four weeks. However, Kentucky suffered the highest single-day number of COVID-related deaths – 69. Kentucky’s death toll now stands at 3,611. Thursday’s positivity rate was 9.04%.