The Indiana Department of Health announced Wednesday that Hoosiers age 50 and older are now eligible to receive a free COVID-19 vaccine. This expansion of eligibility makes the vaccine available to an additional 412,000 Hoosiers.
Due to limited vaccine supplies nationally, Indiana has prioritized healthcare workers, first responders and those who are most vulnerable in its vaccine rollout. Individuals age 50 and older account for just over 35 percent of the state’s population but represent 80 percent of the COVID-19 hospitalizations and 98 percent of all COVID-19 deaths.
Additional groups will be added as more vaccine becomes available.
Vaccine appointments for this newly eligible population will be available over the next several weeks to align with expected vaccine deliveries to the state. Hoosiers are encouraged to take advantage of one of three mass vaccination clinics scheduled at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Ivy Tech Community College in Sellersburg and the University of Notre Dame this month.
To schedule a vaccine, visit https://ourshot.in.gov and select a location from one of nearly 390 clinics around the state. Hoosiers who do not have a computer or cell phone or those who need assistance scheduling an appointment can call 211 or contact one of Indiana’s Area Agencies on Aging or AARP. Nearly 70 libraries around the state also are helping Hoosiers schedule their appointments.
Vaccination clinics that are part of the federal vaccine program, including those at Meijer and Kroger, appear on the clinic map at https://ourshot.in.gov but are scheduled through those retailers’ platforms, not through the state centralized system.
As of Wednesday, 1,031,266 individuals have received a first dose of vaccine in Indiana and 608,638 are fully vaccinated.