Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb says that all state residents age 16 and older will be eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine next week, as the state anticipates a large increase in the amount of doses it will receive in the coming weeks.
Holcomb made the announcement Tuesday in a speech marking the one-year anniversary of the state’s decision to implement a stay-at-home advisory last year. It was one of several big announcements made in the speech, with the state’s mask mandate becoming an advisory in early April and decisions on venue capacity falling into the hands of local, rather than state, authorities.
The availability of vaccines played a large part in those decisions, according to Holcomb, with nearly one million Indiana residents now fully vaccinated against the virus.
Holcomb says that additional mass vaccination clinics will be opened to help deal with the large number of newly eligible patients, and that an employer vaccination program will also be brought online to help Indiana residents to receive the vaccine.
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According to Holcomb, more than 970,000 state residents have been fully vaccinated against the virus. Approximately 27% of state residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, with 17.8% of residents 16 and older receiving both doses.
Currently, all Indiana residents age 40 and older are eligible for the vaccine, but in the coming days all residents over the age of 16 will be eligible to sign up for appointments.
