COVID-19 vaccine eligibility has been expanded to include Louisiana residents between the ages of 65 and 69.
The expansion went into affect on Monday, February 8, 2021.
On Thursday, Gov. John Bel Edwards and the Louisiana Department of Health announced the expansion which will make more than 275,000 additional Louisianans vaccine eligible.
Some Unified Command Group members, state COVID emergency response personnel, local emergency response personnel, law enforcement, first responders and elections workers for the upcoming March and April elections will also be eligible.
As many as 14,000 additional weekly doses have been brought to the state through a federal pharmacy partnership.
"An increase in supply of doses and our strong progress in vaccinating Louisianans allows us to expand vaccine eligibility to people 65 and older, meaning many of the most vulnerable who are most at risk for suffering serious COVID complications or death will be able to schedule their appointments beginning on Monday," Gov. Edwards said. "Data shows that people between the ages of 65 and 74 are five times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID and 90 times more likely to die than younger people."
Louisiana is currently vaccinating people in Priority Group 1B-Tier One.
As of Thursday, February 4, more than 534,985 doses have been administered in Louisiana, with at least 130,978 people having received both doses of the vaccine.
LDH has published the list of participating providers on its website: covidvaccine.la.gov. In addition, residents can call 211 to find a vaccine provider near them.
For more on those locations: 378 vaccine providers in all 64 parishes will receive COVID vaccine this week
Eligible residents must contact a participating provider to make an appointment. Patients who arrive without an appointment will not be vaccinated. LDH cannot make appointments for patients; only providers can.
Patients should receive their second dose of the COVID vaccine at the same location where they received their first dose. Second-dose appointments should be made during the administration of the first dose.
Priority Group 1-B, Tier One: As of Monday, February 8, 2021 (around 915,000 eligible people)
- Dialysis providers and patients
- Ambulatory and outpatient providers and staff
- Behavioral health providers and staff
- Urgent care clinic providers and staff
- Community care providers and staff
- Dental providers and staff
- Professional home care providers (including hospice workers) and home care recipients (including older and younger people with disabilities over the age of 16 who receive community or home-based care, as well as clients of home health agencies)
- American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and Support Service Providers (SSPs) working in community and clinic-based settings, and clients who are both deaf and blind
- Health-related support personnel (lab staff, mortuary staff who have contact with corpses, pharmacy staff)
- Schools of allied health students, residents and staff
- Law enforcement and other first responders
- Persons 65 years old and older
- Louisiana Unified Command Group
- State and local essential COVID emergency response personnel
- Some elections staff ahead of March and April elections
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