Indiana announces COVID-19 vaccine for 30-plus, Gary clinic

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - State officials opened up COVID-19 vaccination eligibility on Monday to all Indiana residents 30 and older and announced a push to vaccinate up to 100,000 people in the state's heavily populated north with a drive-through clinic and mobile units.

Indiana's latest vaccine age expansion makes the vaccine available to more than 840,000 additional Hoosiers, the Indiana Department of Health said. The state had previously limited eligibility to residents who are 40 and older, along with healthcare workers, long-term care residents, first responders and certain educators and school district employees.

Starting Wednesday, Indiana will also open up vaccine eligibility for all residents 16 and older under a plan Gov. Eric Holcomb announced last week.

Holcomb also announced Monday that a drive-through clinic - in a partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency - would operate April 7 through June 2 at the former Roosevelt High School in Gary with the capacity to administer 2,000 COVID-19 vaccines a day.

'œBy opening this mass vaccination clinic in Gary, more Hoosiers will have convenient access to this life-saving vaccine in their own backyard,'ť Holcomb said in a statement.

An additional 1,000 vaccine doses per day will also be allocated to mobile units that will host clinics in underserved communities in northern Indiana, Holcomb said.

The clinic and mobile units are expected to be able to vaccinate more than 100,000 people and are targeting Black and Hispanic communities that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Many of Indiana's high-risk citizens and medically underserved populations also reside in that area.

Gary Democratic Sen. Eddie Melton praised Holcomb, FEMA and the state's health commissioner.

'œIt's vital - both in our efforts to combat this virus and protect citizens - to ensure our underserved communities have access to the COVID-19 vaccine," he said in a statement Monday. 'œGetting these mass vaccination sites up and running in areas like Gary is a critical step in coming out on the other side of this pandemic."

Eligible Indiana residents can schedule an appointment to receive a vaccine by visiting https://ourshot.in.gov or calling 211 if they do not have access to a computer, or require assistance.