After the Kansas Department of Health and Environment prevented the Riley County Health Department from rolling out COVID-19 vaccinations according to the county’s specific needs, some state legislators want to minimize the state’s power to intervene in how counties make such decisions. A few weeks ago, Riley County health officials announced they were ready to move into phase three of the vaccine rollout. That would have allowed people in the county with severe underlying conditions, such as cancer and some other illnesses, to get their vaccines ahead of the state’s distribution schedule — and way ahead of what had been predicted for Riley County. But Kansas Department of Health and Environment secretary Lee Norman said the county needed to continue following the state’s plan as approved by the federal government and vaccinate another group in phase two: essential workers. … Sen. Richard Hilderbrand, who chairs the Public Health and Welfare Committee, said Senate Bill 295 would put a stop to what he called KDHE’s “micromanagement” of counties. He said he isn’t happy with how Kansas has prioritized its distribution phases and wants to see local governments have more flexibility in how they distribute vaccines. Hilderbrand indicated his committee would take action Tuesday on the proposed legislation.
Source: Kansas Reflector