Over 250,000 Hoosiers who are over the age of 70 have scheduled an appointment to receive the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, as of noon Thursday.
The announcement from the Indiana Department of Health was made Wednesday where people between the ages of 70 to 79 are now eligible to schedule their first dose of vaccine. About 125,000 people in that age group signed up in that time frame.
Those statistics do not include those who are being vaccinated in long-term care facilities. However, Family and Social Services Administration Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dan Rusyniak gave an update on the long-term care vaccination program during Wednesday’s press briefing with Governor Eric Holcomb. Dr. Rusyniak said it involves a federal partnership with the CDC, along with CVS, Walgreens and PharmScript.
“The goal is to utilize these large networks of pharmacists and their employees and their experience they have in providing on-site vaccine clinics to have a mobile vaccine force that can go and do on-site clinics at the long-term care facilities in the state.” Dr. Rusyniak said.
State health officials want to be sure that long-term care facility residents get the vaccine where they are currently located.
Dr. Rusyniak said the mobile program opened up in December.
“To date, over 1,300 facilities have signed up and that includes the vast majority of the skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in the state.”
Skilled nursing facilities are top priority due to a large number of outbreaks in these facilities and deaths. The first dose is expected to be given to people at the facilities by the end of the first week of February. Mobile units have been over to several hundred facilities so far and provided shots to more than 11,000 nursing home residents and more than 5,000 nursing home staff members.
Some facilities have not signed up for the federal program and efforts are being made to make sure plans are in place for vaccinations.
Dr. Rusyniak added, “We want persons who fall into these vulnerable age groups to get vaccines as soon as feasible and whether it works best through the federal pharmacy program, through a community site or through our Department of Health mobile units. We are going to continue to do everything we can to give aging Hoosiers their shot.”
Following in the list of priority vaccine recipients will be assisted living facilities, but many have already signed up and many people vaccinated.
Eligible Hoosiers can register by visiting https://ourshot.in.gov, calling 211 or contacting one of Indiana’s Area Agencies on Aging. A caregiver or loved one also may make an appointment on behalf of an eligible senior.
Vaccines are free, but insurance may be charged an administrative fee.
Additional groups will be added as more vaccine becomes available.
