With seven straight weeks of declining COVID-19 cases under its belt, Kentucky officially launched Phase 1C of the vaccine rollout Monday.

Dr. Melinda Joyce, Med Center Health’s vice president of corporate support services, said the first day of Phase 1C went smoothly at The Medical Center at Bowling Green.

The health care provider has been prioritizing older adults, especially those 60 or older, Joyce said.

“On our first day of the 1C category, almost 90% of the vaccines that we gave were in that 60-or-older group,” she said, adding the hospital administered more than 800 doses of the vaccine Monday.

Under Phase 1C, anyone 60 or older can receive the vaccine, along with all essential workers and anyone 16 or older with health conditions putting them at risk for severe COVID-19. Kentuckians can find a vaccine location by going online to kycovid.ky.gov and clicking on the vaccine tab.

The Kroger vaccine center at Greenwood Mall has administered about 5,400 doses since opening Feb. 12. The center is in the space formerly occupied by Sears.

On Monday morning, “very, very few” appointments at the Greenwood Mall site remained available, Kroger spokeswoman Melissa Eads said.

The site adds new appointments each week, she said. The site is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

People can check eligibility and appointment availability at kroger.com/rx/covid-eligibility.

To anyone currently eligible to receive the vaccine and who is struggling to get an appointment, Joyce encouraged patience.

Just one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, several effective vaccines are already being made available to the public, she said. Joyce said The Medical Center provides vaccines to the entire region and not just Bowling Green residents, though recipients must be state residents to qualify.

“Now, a year later, at The Medical Center for all of our locations, we’ve given over 36,000 doses of vaccine,” she said. “To be able to have an effective vaccine in that short period of time and be able to get people immunized is just fantastic.”

The Medical Center is initially prioritizing people who are 60 or older and anyone from Phases 1A and 1B who have yet to receive a vaccine.

Individuals in Phase 1C may text the word “COVID” to 270-796-4400 to get on a waiting list for an appointment. More information about registering for an appointment is available at The Medical Center website.

The launch of Phase 1C on Monday coincided with a burst of positive news from Gov. Andy Beshear. During a news conference in Frankfort, Beshear said restaurants, bars and other businesses would be able to expand their capacity starting Friday. Businesses welcoming customers at 50% capacity can expand that to 60%, Beshear said.

New daily case reports in Kentucky are down by more than 70% in the last seven weeks, and Beshear reported Monday just 509 additional cases, the lowest single-day increase in cases since September. The state’s positivity rate is now at 4.8%, which is below the threshold of 5% that the World Health Organization recommends before lifting virus-related restrictions.

“These are numbers we haven’t seen in months and months and months,” Beshear said.

More than 100,000 Kentuckians were vaccinated last week as vaccine centers received a surplus of doses after weather delays, The Associated Press said. The state has given a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to nearly 700,000 Kentuckians, the governor said.

– Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @NewsByAaron or visit bgdailynews.com.