HANCOCK COUNTY — COVID-19 vaccination eligibility continues to expand, and it’s including a new age group for the second time this week as well as teachers, those with underlying health issues and military veterans.
Indiana lowered its age threshold to 50 Wednesday, a day after lowering it to 55.
It also came a day after President Joe Biden directed all states to prioritize teachers and school staff for COVID-19 vaccinations through the federal program with pharmacies, adding he wants every educator to receive their first shot by the end of this month.
Gov. Eric Holcomb noted during a media briefing Wednesday that that initiative is through pharmacies like those at Meijer, Kroger and Walmart. All three have vaccine clinics in Hancock County.
“The federal government will fold in their doses, their appointment regimen and scheduling process at Meijer, at Kroger, at Walmart,” Holcomb said.
Vaccine clinics that partner with the state like those at Hancock Regional Hospital and the Hancock County Health Department, will continue to be governed by the state’s vaccine roll-out, which has been based on age while also including health-care workers, first responders and those with certain underlying health issues.
The state’s system for signing up for the vaccine can be accessed at ourshot.in.gov, where links can also be accessed for registering at sites that don’t use the state’s system, like Meijer, Kroger and Walmart. Assistance for signing up for a vaccination through the state’s system is also available by calling 2-1-1.
Dr. Lindsay Weaver, chief medical officer for the Indiana State Department of Health, said vaccine invitations started to go out this week to those in the state age 16 and older with sickle cell disease, down syndrome, actively on dialysis, solid organ transplant recipients and those actively receiving treatment for cancer within the last three months.
Weaver said invitations will continue to be sent over the next couple of weeks as health care providers share patient information with the state.
“We will also continue to look at and add other co-morbidities with increased risk and incorporate them as vaccine supplies allow, as we continue to move through the age groups,” she said.
Fresenius Kidney Care started offering vaccinations to its dialysis patients across Indiana on Tuesday. Dawn Nelson, director of operations for the company, said its Greenfield facility treats more than 45 people.
“Our patients are being offered the vaccine when they come in for dialysis and it can be administered after their treatment,” Nelson told the Daily Reporter in an email. “Patients typically come to our center three times a week for their treatment.”
The center is offering patients the COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna, Nelson said.
“We know our patients with kidney failure are at serious risk of complications from COVID-19, so this vaccine is critical to helping our patients get the protection they need as we work to end this pandemic,” she continued. “Our local team in Greenfield has been preparing for this day for several weeks now, and the process has gone very smoothly so far. Because we already administer medication and other vaccines to our patients in the dialysis center, this is a great opportunity to reach more people who would not otherwise have easy access to the vaccine and who are at highest risk.”
Malissa Retz, senior regulatory manager at Fresenius Kidney Care in Indiana, said the company will continue to offer the vaccine to all patients, both those who attend dialysis in centers and those in the company’s home dialysis programs.
“While many states have prioritized dialysis patients’ access to vaccination, only a few have led the way in giving us the opportunity to administer vaccines directly to our patients as part of a statewide effort,” she said. “We hope this can be an example to other states on how to quickly get vaccines to the most vulnerable communities.”
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced on March 1 that it is offering COVID-19 vaccines to enrolled veteran patients 18 and older at the Indianapolis VA Medical Center.
Weaver said the state’s external advisory committee met Monday to discuss who would be eligible next for the vaccine.
“The committee’s consensus was to continue to open eligibility based primarily on age, because data show that the older you are, the greater your risks are of hospitalization and death from COVID-19,” she said.
Weaver said the state is receiving 145,000 Pfizer vaccine doses and 128,000 Moderna vaccine doses this week. It’s also getting just under 54,000 of the new one-dose vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, 21,000 of which will be used at upcoming mass vaccination clinics, one of which will be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend.
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COVID-19 data through early Wednesday, March 3
Hancock County
- 295 new tests administered
- 9 new cases
- 3.3% seven-day (Feb. 18-24) positivity rate all tests, 10.2% cumulative rate
- 0 new deaths
- 85,698 total tests administered
- 38,396 total individuals tested
- 7,418 total cases
- 9.4% seven-day (Feb. 18-24) positivity rate unique individuals, 19.3% cumulative rate
- 132 total deaths
- 14,812 first vaccine doses administered
- 9,198 fully vaccinated
Indiana
- 37,060 new tests administered (Aug. 25, 2020-March 2, 2021), 4,825 new individuals tested
- 786 new cases (March 2)
- 3.5% seven-day (Feb. 18-24) positivity rate all tests, 9.8% cumulative rate
- 9 new deaths (Jan. 5-March 1)
- 8,093,057 total tests administered
- 3,127,593 total individuals tested
- 663,511 total cases
- 9.6% seven-day (Feb. 18-24) positivity rate unique individuals, 21.2% cumulative rate
- 12,200 total deaths
- 433 total probable deaths
- 60% ICU beds in use – non-COVID
- 6% ICU beds in use – COVID
- 34% ICU beds available
- 17.9% ventilators in use – non-COVID
- 2.3% ventilators in use – COVID
- 79.7% ventilators available
- Hospital census: 731 total COVID-19 patients (475 confirmed, 256 under investigation)
- 1,031,266 first vaccine doses administered
- 608,638 fully vaccinated
Source: Indiana State Department of Health
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