‘A warning that a fourth wave is possible here.’ 834 new Kentucky coronavirus cases.

The number of new COVID-19 cases this week is set to outpace last week’s total, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday, as he announced 834 new cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky on Thursday along with 17 deaths.

Likewise, the statewide positivity rate continues to rise, topping out at 3.45 percent.

“It is at least a warning that a fourth wave is possible here,” Beshear said in a live update. “We can prevent it. We have to vaccinate as quickly as possible.”

Kentucky has vaccinated 1,622,924 people to date — 46 percent of the population over age 16 and roughly 877,000 shy of the 2.5 million goal Beshear has set for the state. Once that goal is met, he has vowed to lift coronavirus capacity, physical distancing and curfew restrictions at most businesses and venues that serve up to a thousand people.

That goal could be met by the end of April. Though Kentucky hit pause on its rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, there are still 499,375 Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech doses available right now at the state’s more than 500 vaccination sites.

“This is a goal we can reach,” Beshear said. “We could get more than halfway of the distance left . . . this week if everybody would go out and sign up,” he said.

Convincing more of the population to get vaccinated is becoming increasingly difficult. In an attempt to make doses even more accessible, the state plans to reallocate supply from some of the larger regional sites — many of which have hundreds, if not thousands of unclaimed vaccine appointments — and stock more community pharmacies. There’s also an effort underway to deploy a “fleet of mobile units,” Beshear said, though he did not immediately offer specifics.

There are 416 people in the hospital with coronavirus (four fewer than Wednesday). Of those patients, 102 are in intensive care (13 fewer) and 49 are on a ventilator (two fewer).

Hitting pause on the state’s rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine means a halt on immunizations inside Kentucky’s corrections system. By Monday, nearly 70 percent of the people housed in state jails and prisons had gotten a Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Visitations for that population, which have been halted for a year, will not resume until 80 percent are inoculated.

Unemployment system open, again

The state’s unemployment system is up and running again. After a four-day shutdown that was needed to enhance system security, following multiple fraud attempts, the UI system opened early Tuesday morning.

As part of that reboot, the state is mailing new eight-digit pin numbers to all active claimants, who must register a new account in the system. Once registered, claimants do not need to file a new claim.

Of about 300,000 claimants, 30,000 have successfully registered new accounts so far, Labor Cabinet General Counsel Amy Cubbage said Thursday.

People with active unemployment claims who need to file for benefits but have not yet received a letter should call 502-564-2900 to reset their pin.

The UI phone assistance line, which people should only call to reset their pin, is taking calls from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The phone line has a capacity of 130 callers at a time. For people who hear a message to try again later, “if you keep trying, you will be helped that day,” Cubbage said.