Vaccinations for 55+

 Hoosiers 55-59 now eligible for COVID-19 vaccines; state rolls out 3 mass vaccination sites

March 2, 2021 | John Russell

Hoosiers aged 55-59 are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, according to an update posted Tuesday morning on the Indiana State Department of Health’s vaccine information and registration site.

The expansion means hundreds of thousands of additional Hoosiers are now eligible for vaccines, signifying that Indiana has received a large increase in allotted doses from the federal government.

In addition, the state announced that three mass vaccination clinics–at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Ivy Tech Community College and the University of Notre Dame–will be offering vaccinations.

Those clinics will be offering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which federal officials approved Saturday for emergency use. The J&J vaccines require just one shot, compared to two for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The schedule for mass vaccination is as follows: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. March 5-7 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 12-13 at Ivy Tech, 8204 County Road 311, Sellersburg; and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 26-27 at Notre Dame’s Compton Family Ice Arena.

The eligibility pool previously consisted of Hoosiers aged 60 and older, front-line health care workers and first responders. The last expansion, for the 60-64 age group, was announced last Tuesday.

Indiana began administering the vaccines in mid-December As of Monday, 1,000,321 Hoosiers had received at least one shot, while 569,465 Hoosiers had been fully vaccinated.

To schedule a vaccine, Hoosiers can visit https://ourshot.in.gov and select a location from one of more than 370 clinics around the state.

People 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 appointments.

Vaccination clinics that are part of the federal vaccine program, including those at Walmart, Sam’s Club 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.