Governor Pete Ricketts on Monday warned Nebraskans that the COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet. He says hospitalizations increased last week for the first time in 19 weeks. “We had 18 weeks in a row where our hospitalizations were declining and then last week they rose,” Ricketts says. “Last week our positivity rate for the state went above five percent for the first time in eight weeks.”
Ricketts says the White House last week said that 5.1 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine had been purchased and that Nebraska will be receiving 27,600 of those doses this week to go along with 25,740 doses of Pfizer and 19,200 doses of Moderna.
The governor says Nebraska ranks in the top five nationwide for the vaccination of senior citizens and vulnerable populations. Ricketts continues to urge all Nebraskans to sign up to get vaccinated and take safety precautions to prevent the spread of the virus. Ricketts says he got his first vaccination Saturday and outside of a sore arm he had no issues.