University of Kansas Health System

As pressure builds to get people vaccinated before the virus’s more transmissible variants take hold, people throughout Kansas City are finding that the criteria for getting a shot are different from state to state, hospital to hospital.

A handful of local hospitals has been running out of intensive care unit beds to treat additional patients.

Even as officials in Kansas and Missouri announce the arrival of vaccines next week, COVID-19 cases are spiking again, thanks to get-togethers during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Even as hospital leaders warned that their beds were nearly full -- and Gov. Mike Parson assured the public that the state was prepared -- some hospitals continued to report data that made their capacity appear larger than it was.

The University of Kansas Health System says it could begin administering a COVID-19 vaccine by Friday, which a doctor hopes will be a "game-changer" in the fight against the pandemic.

Missouri health officials announced that more vaccines will be available this month for long-term care residents and "forward facing" health care workers, meaning those who interact with patients.

Missouri health officials say they anticipate that long-term care facility residents and staff, and health care workers could get the vaccine by the end of January. Kansas City hospitals are seeking more of an antibody therapy in hopes of keeping COVID-19 patients out of their dwindling number of hospital beds.

Most of the patients who are turned away are from rural areas with no mask mandates, said Dr. Heather Harris, Hays Medical Center's medical director.

Missouri tops 4,000 deaths Tuesday as University of Kansas Health System officials say further restrictions may need to be enacted.

After COVID-19 cases stabilized over the weekend, Kansas City health experts are asking those who traveled during the Thanksgiving holiday to quarantine and get tested.

University of Kansas officials are worried about how students will be spending the holidays at home after COVID-19 cases rose by nearly 5% after Halloween.

Doctors are pleading with the public to wear masks, as COVID hospitalizations continue to break new records around the Kansas City area.