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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has called vaccines the “light at the end of the tunnel” to the pandemic that has hospitalized and killed thousands of Hoosiers. But it could be weeks or months before you can get one.
Here’s an update on how the vaccines are being allocated, and who is at the front of the line. The information came from officials at the Indiana State Department of Health at Holcomb’s weekly press briefing on Wednesday.
How many Hoosiers have been vaccinated so far?
As of Monday morning, nearly 76,000 Hoosiers have received their first dose. More than 110,000 Hoosiers in total have scheduled appointments for vaccines through next Monday.
Who is getting vaccinated first?
For the first weeks (or longer), the vaccines are being dedicated to two groups: front-line health care workers, such as doctors, nurses and technicians in hospitals and clinics; and residents and staff of long-term-care facilities, such as nursing homes. With the exception of residents of long-term-care facilities, every person receiving the vaccine right now has to attest they are a health care worker who has had exposure to patients or infectious materials. Hospitals are being instructed to verify identifications before vaccinating individuals.
How many health care workers are there in Indiana?
Indiana has about 400,000 health care workers. Officials say more than 100,000 health care providers have been invited so far this week to make an appointment for a vaccine.
How many doses are available to residents of long-term-care facilities?
About 40,000 doses have been set aside so far for long-term-care residents and staff. They are being vaccinated, starting this week, by health care workers from CVS and Walgreens, who are visiting their locations.
How many doses of the vaccines have been shipped to Indiana in total so far?
By the end of this week, Indiana will have been allocated 146,250 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 152,500 of the Moderna vaccine, Indiana health officials said.
Will Indiana continue to receive that amount going forward?
No. The initial shipment was fairly large, but Indiana health officials say the weekly allocation will be lower going forward, although they did not say how much lower. Also, the number of vaccines administered over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays was somewhat lower than in normal weeks.
When can I get vaccinated?
Unless you are a front-line health care worker or resident of a long-term-care facility, it could be another month or more. The state health department is sticking to a protocol, or what officials call a “very intentional order of eligibility” for a vaccine. As Dr. Lindsay Weaver, Indiana’s chief medical officer, said Wednesday: “We want to ensure we have enough vaccine before we open up vaccinations to additional groups.”
At that rate, will it be months before all of Indiana is vaccinated?
Yes. And according to a recent survey, about half of Hoosiers who were questioned said they wanted to get vaccinated. About one-third said they had reservations. In response, the state is preparing a public-awareness campaign to encourage Hoosiers to get vaccinated.
What if hospitals have doses left over at the end of the day or someone doesn’t show up for an appointment?
The state health department said it has asked hospitals to have standby lists in case people who scheduled appointments are unable to keep those appointments.
What are the next groups to get vaccinated?
The state health department said it is meeting regularly with an external vaccine advisory committee to review the latest federal advisory committee guidelines and Indiana data to help make recommendations that best suit Indiana’s needs. Indiana officials did not specify which groups will get vaccinated next but said they hope to share that information in a few weeks.
What criteria are Indiana health officials taking into account when considering which groups to vaccinate next?
Officials say they are considering the following questions when deciding which group should get next in line: What is the risk of serious illness and death in that population? What is the risk of exposure to COVID-19? What is the risk of exposing others, especially vulnerable people? And how much vaccine does the state have available, and what is the safety and efficacy of that vaccine for that population?
So far, only hospitals and long-term-care facilities are getting doses to administer. When will county health departments and local clinics get doses?
Indiana health officials say that probably won’t happen until the end of January, but they are communicating with local health departments to be ready in case more doses are suddenly available to a broader population.
There are some reports that teachers and others are getting vaccinated before it’s their turn. Why is that?
Indiana health officials said they have had numerous conversations with hospitals about following the state’s allocation plan. But because the doses are perishable, health officials are telling hospitals that, at the end of the day, if they have any additional vaccine, even three doses, and can’t find a health care provider on hand, they can go ahead and administer the vaccine to others.
How can people keep track of how many people have been vaccinated on a running basis?
The state health department said it is launching an online “vaccine dashboard,” perhaps as soon as tonight, that will show the number of vaccines administered in Indiana. The health department will update the dashboard each Wednesday, using data that is reported and verified from hospitals and county health departments.
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This is totally confusing. We have been “allocated” 146K of Pfizer and 152K of Moderna. That means Indiana’s total allocation is approximately 300K to date. This article also says that 76,000 Hoosiers have been vaccinated so far. So why isn’t some of the additional allocation being administered? Certainly, those 76,000 will need second doses. Okay, get that. But why are we letting additional vaccine not to be administered? My mother, 97 years old, is independent living in a long term care facility. She is NOT in assisted living, so I reason that she is not in the first group who are living in licensed, long term care facilities and included in the first phase. I have access to information about CVS’s first clinic. They showed up with less doses than requested by the administrator and, +/- around 60 residents of this large facility, got their first dose. That is awful. CVS is not planning to come back until late January to administer the second dose to the first group and no indication has been made of more of the facility getting a first round; however, I would surely hope and expect that would be the case. Then, WRTV airs a story that CVS indicates “no shortage of vaccine” for them to vaccinate these longterm care facilities. So…who’s keeping CVS honest here? And why isn’t the IDOH pushing as much of the vaccine out as possible? Having 300K doses and only having less than 100K vaccinated is not a good result. The vaccination rate should be double. If the Indiana doesn’t step up their administration rate, problems are going to develop. In order to vaccinate 60% of our adult 18+ population in Indiana, and with a 2-dose regime, we’re going to need to administer 5.4 million doses. If we’re doing 100K per week (and they’ve indicated the allocation will begin to REDUCE?!!)….we won’t be done with completing this until sometime in early 2022. And that is just doing 60% of the ADULTS. Start adding in higher percentages of people wanting the vaccine, as well as other age groups, like 12-18, and we’re into the middle of 2022. Something better change.
Seems like someone should have designed an app where people could register the fact that they want the vaccine so the state could start scheduling out the vaccines. Not everyone wants one so don’t plan to use 400,000 x 2 for healthcare workers – find out how many will take it then you can move on to the next group. And, give the rest of us a better idea of where we are in line and when we might get it.
Vaccination is the barrier to economic recovery. We need to throw every resource at administering every dose given to the state of Indiana. I don’t understand lack of urgency at the state level.
Having a vaccine is not the same thing has having people vaccinated. Even a stable genius should have known that. Too bad the Federal Government did not have more of an active plan to get people vaccinated, rather than just throw it out to each state to handle where state Health Department money and resources are already strained by the Pandemic. Like Joe B, said not having people vaccinated is a barrier to economic recovery.
Great idea for an app. Could Salesforce help design one?
First, “allocated” does not mean received. These could be vaccines allocated for the next 30 days so that the state can develop a plan for those allocated vaccines. Second, this is not a federal government issue. This is a state issue. The states receive the vaccine from the pharmaceutical companies. Each state determines their priority, method, and distribution of the vaccines. The federal government does not have the authority to tell the states what to do, just as they can only make recommendations to the states and local governments regarding mask mandates.
I agree that there should be an enrollment site that asks you specific questions at the state level so that the state can determine which category we each fit into regarding vaccination timing. Then they could calculate an estimated timeline as well as a priority for when we each receive out vaccine. In Florida each county has established their own method of distribution. In some counties there are reservations where you sit in your vehicle when it is your timeline and, as you pull forward, they vaccinate you while sitting in your car. In other counties they have no reservation or enrollment, other than you must be over 65 years of age. People are in “mile long” lines with walkers and stadium chairs hoping to receive their vaccination.