Kentucky small businesses say faster vaccine distribution will speed up recovery efforts
(The Center Square) – Small businesses in Kentucky want a wide variety of help to right the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they put faster vaccine distribution at the top of the list.
According to a recent small business survey from Alignable, businesses need new PPP funding and widely distributed vaccines but each of those things fell behind an expedited distribution as something they say would more significantly impact their bottom lines.
Alignable, a small business referral network, surveyed more than 10,000 small business owners across the country during the second week of January, including 200 throughout Kentucky.
In Kentucky, 67% of small businesses said distributing vaccines more quickly would have a greater impact on their business than more money for PPP.
The same is true nationwide, where 58% of small businesses agreed.
“With the vaccine on hand – and a nation of experts in logistics and distribution – surely we can do better than aiming for the May/June timeframe for vaccine distribution to all citizens,” Eric Groves, the report’s author, wrote. “The sooner we can distribute the vaccines across the U.S. and Canada, the more lives we can save – and the faster our small businesses can expedite the coast-to-coast recovery process.”
Kentucky also matched the nation in terms of small business impact of the pandemic, with 67% in the state saying it’s had a negative impact and 41% responding it’s significantly impacted their business. Nationwide, the numbers are 66% and 44%, respectively.
At the same time, 74% of Kentucky businesses say new PPP funding is important to keep their businesses open, and 83% said widespread distribution of the vaccine is important.
Earlier this week, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said 221,440 doses of the state’s 332,450 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, with nearly 40,000 going to long-term care facilities.
He also said the state is administering vaccines faster than the federal government is sending new ones, and Kentucky is one of only nine states to administer more than half the doses received. He has requested double the weekly amount coming to the state from the federal government.
“Right now, we can’t guarantee that every pharmacy across Kentucky gets vaccine because we don’t have enough supply,” Beshear said. “We are proving we can get it out there. We are proving that we are efficient. We are proving that we can get it into people’s arms.”
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