Media Contact:
Taylor Gage, (402) 471-1970
Justin Pinkerman, (402) 471-1967
Governor's Media Release:
LINCOLN – Today, Governor Pete Ricketts announced that the State has launched an online portal where Nebraskans can register for coronavirus vaccinations (vaccinate.nebraska.gov).
While Nebraskans are encouraged to register in a timely manner, the State is not administering vaccines on a first come, first serve basis. Nebraska's vaccination plan (dhhs.ne.gov/Documents/COVID-19-Vaccination-Plan.pdf) is proceeding in phases, with priority groups receiving initial doses.
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Incident Commander Angie Ling provided an update on the allocations of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines coming to Nebraska. She also reported on the progress of vaccinations administered thus far. DHHS CIO Lori Snyder also joined the Governor to overview the process to register to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
Gov. Ricketts: Vaccination
- Vaccinations have been moving quickly statewide despite the recent snowstorms.
- Over 161,000 vaccinations have now been administered.
- Seventeen (17) of our 19 local health departments have already completed Phase 1A and moved into Phase 1B. Douglas County and Lancaster-Lancaster public health departments should complete Phase 1A in the coming days.
Angie Ling: Vaccination
- Next week, Nebraska will receive 11,700 primary doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 15,500 primary doses of Moderna's vaccine.
- As of next week, the entire state will be in Phase 1B of vaccination. The priority within this phase will be residents age 65 and older.
- At this time, Nebraska is not requesting a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) vaccination site, since it would not involve any additional doses of vaccine coming to Nebraska. The State of Nebraska is able to sustain its vaccination efforts with its current support system.
- Yesterday, DHHS launched a Vaccine Allocation Scorecard to provide additional information about the State's vaccination progress. It's available by clicking here and scrolling down to the middle of the webpage.
- The State's vaccine registration portal went live yesterday. There have been more than 54,000 registrations as of this morning.
Lori Snyder: Vaccine Registration
- The launch of the vaccine registration portal will not slow down the current vaccination schedule at all. If you already have an appointment for the vaccine, move forward with it.
- The registration portal is only for Nebraskans.
- If you've already registered through a local public health department, you do not need to register again. Local health departments are sharing data with the State's site.
- NOTE: the only exception is Nebraskans age 18-65, who have a health condition listed here. These Nebraskans should re-register through the State's portal.
- The registration portal is not a first come, first serve system. Nebraskans need to register, but you won't be in the back of the line if it takes you a couple of days to complete the registration. The system will randomly select people who are eligible for vaccination in the current phase.
- How registration works:
- Fill out the online questionnaire.
- If you provide an email address, you'll receive a message within 24 hours to confirm that you're registered.
- Once it's your turn to be vaccinated, you'll get an email notification with a unique link. You can follow the link for information about how to schedule an appointment for vaccination.
- After you've signed up for an appointment, you'll get an email to confirm your appointment.
- You'll then get a reminder email when your appointment is coming up.
- After receiving your first dose of the vaccine, you'll also get an email to schedule an appointment to receive the second dose. Some local health departments will work to schedule appointments for the second dose of vaccine when people come in to receive their first dose.
- If technology, language, or access presents a challenge registering...
- Ask a friend or relative to register for you.
- Call the Nebraska Vaccination Hotline.
- The main line is (531) 249-1873 and the toll-free number is (833) 998-2275.
- These phone lines have the ability to take relay calls for the deaf and hard of hearing. They also have access to help in 108 languages.
- An email address and phone number are required to register. If you don't have one of these, enter the Nebraska Vaccination Hotline email (dhhs.vacchotline@Nebraska.gov) or phone number ((531) 249-1873) instead.
- The website address is vaccinate.ne.gov or https://vaccinate.ne.gov.
- A Spanish-language registration portal is expected to be available around mid-February.
- Training materials, if needed, can be found on the DHHS website.
- Remember to practice the 3Cs.
Video of today's briefing can be found by clicking here.