INDIANAPOLIS — State health officials expanded COVID-19 vaccine eligibility on Tuesday to Hoosiers age 60 and older, raising the number of Bartholomew County residents eligible for vaccinations to roughly 1 in 4.
Due to limited vaccine supplies, Indiana is prioritizing healthcare workers, first responders and those who are most vulnerable in its vaccine rollout, the Indiana State Department of Health said. Additional groups will be added as more vaccine becomes available.
People age 60 and older make up 22.8% of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Bartholomew County, but 89.8% of deaths, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
Vaccine appointments may be scheduled at ourshot.in.gov or by calling 211.
Vaccination clinics that are part of the federal vaccine program, including those at Walmart, Sam’s Club and Kroger, appear on the clinic map on the state’s registration website, but are scheduled through those retailers’ platforms.
Additionally, the Indiana Department of Health announced that it will hold 10 additional vaccine clinics for eligible Hoosiers around the state Thursday through Saturday, including a clinic at Ivy Tech Community College, 4475 Central Ave.
The clinics are being added to areas where there are currently no open vaccine appointments.
Opening up the vaccine appointments to age 60 and older will result in some local teachers being eligible for the vaccinations. At Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp., a group of 344 teachers, support staff, substitute teachers or other staff members are in the age range now eligible for vaccines, the school corporation said Tuesday.
As of Tuesday morning, at least 11,586 Bartholomew County residents had received their first of two COVID-19 shots, or nearly 1 in 7 people, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
Additionally, at least 5,249 Bartholomew County residents, or roughly 1 in 16 people, had received their second COVID-19 shot and were considered fully vaccinated as of Tuesday morning.
Nearly 91,000 Hoosiers ages 60-64 scheduled free COVID-19 vaccines in the first eight hours of their eligibility on Tuesday, state health officials said. The state reported nearly 63,000 of those registrations came in the first three hours when the portal was opened.
To date, nearly 32 percent of Indiana residents ages 60-64 have scheduled an appointment or have been vaccinated when healthcare workers and first responders, who were already eligible, are included.
About 69.4% of Bartholomew County residents ages 80 and up had received their first COVID-19 shot as of Tuesday morning, followed by 66.7% of residents ages 70 to 79 and 25% of residents ages 60 to 69, according to state records and U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
