Indiana Announces Plan To Expand Vaccine Eligibility In The Near Future

Hoosiers 60 and up will soon be eligible to register to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

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(Indianapolis, Ind.) – The state of Indiana is in preparation for the next phase of COVID-19 vaccine distributions.

Indiana State Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lindsay Weaver announced Wednesday that Hoosiers ages 60 and up will be the next group eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.

The specific date has yet to be announced.

Weaver added that individuals between 60 and 65 years of age total about 432,000 on Indiana’s 6.8 million population.

The Department of Health’s Vaccine Advisory Committee stated that the next group after those 60 and older to be eligible for the vaccine will be Hoosiers that are 50 and older who meet criteria for five specific co-morbidities known to be more likely to be hospitalized or die from COVID-19:

• Active dialysis patient
• Post-solid organ transplant recipients
• Sickle cell disease patients
• Down syndrome
• People who are actively in treatment for cancer or within the last three months, or with active primary lung cancer or active hematologic cancers: leukemia, multiple myeloma, leukemia.

The Department of Health estimates around 51,000 Hoosiers that fall under one of those criteria.

For more information, you can visit ourshot.in.gov.