Nearly 60,000 Indiana residents ages 70 to 79 have already signed up to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as of mid-afternoon Wednesday. The announcement of the next phase of vaccine rollout to that age group was made at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Signup is available online at www.ourshot.in.gov or by calling 211.
Indiana Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lindsay Weaver said they are expanding eligibility as doses are available.
“It is our goal to expand eligibility as quickly as supplies and resources allow and that is what we’ve been doing from the beginning,” stated Dr. Weaver. “We’re working with local health departments to increase their vaccination capacity. This week we will ship an additional 20,000 doses of vaccine to those health departments. That is nearly double the amount we were able to send them last week.”
As for how many doses are received in each county, Dr. Weaver said it is determined with a simple formula.
“We know what the population is based on the census data for each of these age groups. We’ve collected information about comorbidities across the state, as well as critical infrastructure. Allocations are based on populations and expecting a certain percentage of people to have uptake in that area. That’s also how we’re determining whether or not we’re ready to forward, because again we don’t want to wait for an entire population to get vaccinated before we start moving on to the other.”
In all, over 220,000 residents in the state have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The first round of vaccines was distributed to healthcare workers and first responders with the expansion of those who are 80 years of age and older last week.
Over 45,000 people in the state are now fully vaccinated with both doses of the vaccine.
Dr. Weaver and State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box urge patience when the next phases of vaccine eligibility are distributed.
Weaver stated, “All of our vaccine allocations are driven by data. We have been planning carefully for this moment for months. Throughout the process we’ve made clear, deliberate choices that are designed to avoid chaos and confusion. We do not want to see lines of people waiting hours outside for their vaccines and offering a first-come, first-served approach does not protect those most at risk for severe illness or death.”
Dr. Box said only a few instances of allergic reactions have been recorded to date.
“I know Indiana has had two cases of anaphylaxis which is the more serious allergic reaction and both individuals did well, but did have to be hospitalized from that,” said Dr. Box. “There have been other reported cases of minor-type things like a rash, itching, some not feeling very well, redness or swelling at the injection site – other than that those are the main things we’ve had. We’ve also had only 11 cases per million of anaphylaxis, or allergic reactions through the entire world with this.”
Health officials continue to work to reach the goal of vaccinating Hoosiers as soon as possible.
