Tag Archives: eligibility

Missouri extends energy assistance application deadline

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JOPLIN, Mo. – Missouri residents will get an extra month to apply for the Economic Security Corporation’s (ESC) Energy Assistance Program. Governor Mike Parson extended he deadline to May 31 and expanded income eligibility for the program.

The income guidelines have increased to 60% State Median Income (SMI) guidelines. To be eligible residents must:

  • Be responsible for paying home heating costs
  • Have $3,000 or less in bank accounts, retirement accounts, or investments
  • All household members must be a U.S. citizen or legally admitted for permanent residence
  • Meet 60% SMI guidelines

Residents of Barton, Jasper, Newton and McDonald Counties can find information on getting assistance at the ESC’s utility assistance page. Applications can be submitted online, by email, in-person at the ESC’s Central Office, or by mail.

Kansas opens up vaccinations to all adults starting Monday

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Governor Laura Kelly today announced that starting next Monday, March 29, 2021, the State of Kansas will make the COVID-19 vaccine available to all Kansans (16+), entering the final Phase 5 of the Vaccine Prioritization plan.

“With the anticipated increase in supply from the federal government, we must get every dose of vaccine into arms quickly,” Kelly said in a news release. “I strongly encourage every Kansan to get the COVID-19 vaccine so we can get back to school, back to work, and back to normal.”

(Click here for more information on the vaccine in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma)

The state opened up vaccinations to those with underlying health conditions and larger group of essential workers just this week. The previous phases had focuses on health care workers, nursing home residents, adults over the age of 65, key workers such as teachers and prisoners.

State Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Louisburg Republican and member of the Senate health committee, said people have already found it necessary to get on multiple vaccine lists and even drive long distances to get shots, and she’s worried that those problems will “cascade” with more people eligible. Also, she said, she wants people with chronic medical conditions to get their inoculations ahead of younger, healthier people.

“It has not been smooth,” Baumgardner said. “It still is this ping pong for folks to figure out, how do I find out where and when I can get that vaccination?”

As of Friday, 35.1% of the adult population in Kansas had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

The vaccine rollout has coincided with a drop in cases. The number of new cases increased by just 506 to 301,433 from Wednesday to Friday, and the number of deaths rose by 10 to 4,891.

But there are concerns that the numbers could again rise as variants begin to spread. Health officials in the Lawrence area announced Thursday that they had detected the first case of a more contagious coronavirus variant first identified in the United Kingdom. Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health said in a news release that the case is among about 30 total in Kansas in recent weeks.

“With what we are seeing with the virus in other parts of the country right now, we don’t want to let our guards down,” said Douglas County’s Deputy Local Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Schrimsher. “It’s important to not get complacent even as thankfully more and more people in our community are getting vaccinated, especially those at most risk for experiencing death or hospitalization.”

Release from the Governor’s Office

Mar 26, 2021

Governor Laura Kelly today announced that starting next Monday, March 29, 2021, the State of Kansas will make the COVID-19 vaccine available to all Kansans (16+), entering the final Phase 5 of the Vaccine Prioritization plan.

“With the anticipated increase in supply from the federal government, we must get every dose of vaccine into arms quickly,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “I strongly encourage every Kansan to get the COVID-19 vaccine so we can get back to school, back to work, and back to normal.”

Kansas will become the 8th state to make the vaccine available to all adults, joining Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Utah, and West Virginia.

As of March 26, 35.1% of the adult population in Kansas had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

In the early part of the vaccination program (December 2020 – February 2021), limited federal supply led to demand for vaccine consistently outstripping supply. However, the supply increases of recent weeks have reversed this situation. Local Health Departments (LHDs) and providers have started reporting a decline in demand despite the state opening to Phases 3 and 4 populations. To ensure no vaccine goes to waste, the Kelly administration decided to open eligibility to all Kansans.

Kansans are encouraged to use the Vaccine Finder tool to find the nearest location with available vaccine.

About the COVID-19 vaccines:

  • COVID-19 Vaccines work: New England Journal of Medicine published a study on Feb. 24 that found researchers in Israel and the U.S. report that the vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech was highly effective in protecting against infection with the COVID-19 virus, lowering people’s chances of getting sick with the disease—especially severe disease—and dropping COVID-19 hospitalization rates.
  • Scientists have been researching mRNA technology, which makes it possible to create a vaccine faster, for years to prepare for potential infectious viruses. This research and the high supply of volunteers for clinical trials led to the relatively quick development of the COVID-19 vaccines.
  • COVID-19 vaccines must meet rigorous standards and have undergone the most intensive safety monitoring in U.S. history. The three COVID-19 vaccines had to meet safety and effectiveness standards to be approved for Emergency Use Authorization and have been evaluated in tens of thousands of participants in clinical trials.