State lowers vaccine age eligibility to 30

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Vials of vaccine at Hancock Regional Hospital await use. The state lowered the vaccine age on Monday to 30, two days earlier than planned. On Wednesday, the age will drop all the way to 16. (Tom Russo | Daily Reporter)

INDIANAPOLIS — State officials opened up COVID-19 vaccination eligibility on Monday to all Indiana residents 30 and older, two days earlier than planned.

Indiana’s latest vaccine age expansion makes the vaccine available to more than 840,000 additional Hoosiers, the Indiana Department of Health said. The state had previously limited eligibility to residents who are 40 and older, along with healthcare workers, long-term care residents, first responders and certain educators and school district employees.

Starting Wednesday, Indiana will also open up vaccine eligibility for all residents 16 and older under a plan Gov. Eric Holcomb announced last week.

Holcomb also announced Monday that a drive-through clinic with the capacity to administer 2,000 COVID-19 vaccines a day would operate April 7 through June 2 at the former Roosevelt High School in Gary. An additional 1,000 vaccine doses per day will also be allocated to mobile units that will host clinics in underserved communities in northern Indiana, Holcomb said.

The clinic and mobile units are expected to be able to vaccinate more than 100,000 people and are targeting Black and Hispanic communities that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

Eligible Indiana residents can schedule an appointment to receive a vaccine by visiting https://ourshot.in.gov or calling 211 if they do not have access to a computer, or require assistance.

In Hancock County, vaccine clinics are open at Hancock Regional Hospital and the Hancock County Health Department. Clinics also are open at Meijer in McCordsville and at Walmart and Kroger in Greenfield.