Weekly Health News Round Up 2.26.21

Vaccines are the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the most important tool we have to get our country back to normal. Senator Mitch McConnell and Kentucky Medical Association President Dr. Dale Toney answer your questions about the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

House Bill 48, sponsored by Rep. Danny Bentley, solves a problem pharmacists have been facing for years: reimbursement. Kentucky lacks a mechanism to properly reimburse them for many of the critical services they provide to their patients, including life-saving SUD treatment. 

A new residential drug and alcohol treatment center will open in Owenton, Kentucky near Frankfort in April to provide services for women suffering from substance use disorder. 

This week, the Kentucky House of Representatives passed a measure aimed at expanding access to health care through telehealth. House Bill 140 would codify current COVID-related telehealth provisions in statute, ensuring Kentuckians have continued access to medical care. 

After getting the COVID-19 vaccine, some patients who go in for a mammogram may see enlarged lymph nodes in their results. Usually this is a sign of cancer, but doctors say the enlarged nodes mean the vaccine is working.

More than 500,000 people across the state have received at least their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine. In addition, Kentucky will be receiving additional vaccine doses from the federal government for the next three weeks.