The counties near Indiana’s border with Michigan are showing persistent risk of coronavirus spread, with top state health officials saying Wednesday they were trying to turn around declining COVID-19 vaccination rates.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its guidelines Tuesday on the wearing of masks outdoors, saying fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to cover their faces anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers.
Nearly one-third of Indiana residents ages 16 and older have now been fully vaccinated for COVID-19, state health officials said Monday.
With a green light from federal health officials, many states resumed use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Saturday. Among the venues where it was being deployed: the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Indiana health officials say they will pause using the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine for COVID-19 at all clinics that use it, following reports of potentially dangerous blood clots, and instead use the two-dose Moderna vaccine.
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.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb was jabbed with the COVID-19 vaccine shot Friday as the state’s first mass vaccination clinic opened at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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 U.S. is getting a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19, as the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two.