HANCOCK COUNTY — Individuals aged 65 to 69 will soon join a growing population of those able to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, officials say.
How long they’ll have to wait for a shot depends on where they go and how fast appointments fill up there. Demand has pushed openings out for weeks at the county’s two initial vaccination sites, but two new locations have recently launched.
The preparations come as the state welcomes a small increase in its vaccine allocations.
Dr. Lindsay Weaver, chief medical officer for the Indiana State Department of Health, said earlier this week that more than 700,000 Indiana residents have either received or scheduled an appointment to receive their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccination. That represents those who are 70 and older, health-care workers, first responders and residents of long-term care facilities.
Weaver said the figure includes 51% of Hoosiers aged 80 and older, 57% of Indiana residents 70 and older, 60% of eligible health care workers and first responders, more than 32,000 residents of long-term care facilities, and 13,000 long-term care facility staff members.
Indiana started vaccinating health care workers on Dec. 16, residents 80 and older on Jan. 8 and those 70 and older on Jan. 13.
State officials hope to expand to those 65 to 69 soon.
“We’ll let the data drive the decision, but I think it’d be accurate to say days, not weeks, is what we’re looking at,” Gov. Eric Holcomb said earlier this week.
Indiana has been getting about 78,000 to 79,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine a week. Leaders said that’s increasing by 16%, or more than 12,000 doses.
“Additional doses we expect to receive from the federal government will allow us to open more appointments,” Weaver said. “This is still a small increase, however, and we will continue to follow our age-based approach to expanding eligibility to ensure that those who data show are most at risk for hospitalization and death receive first access to the vaccine.”
Tim Livesay, director of pharmacy for Hancock Regional Hospital, said he thinks the state switched from its past 10-year age increment to a five-year one for a good reason.
“That is a pretty large set of the population,” he said of residents 65 to 69.
The state estimates about 350,000 residents fall into the age group. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates Hancock County has almost 13,000 residents 65 and older.
And demand for COVID-19 vaccine remains high in Hancock County. As of Thursday morning, Hancock Regional Hospital’s COVID-19 vaccination clinic was booked through Feb. 18. The first available appointment at the Hancock County Health Department’s clinic was March 1.
Pharmacies at Kroger in Greenfield and Meijer in McCordsville were recently added as vaccination sites in Hancock County. Kroger had several same-day appointments available on Thursday.
Frank Guglielmi, a Meijer spokesman, said the company’s McCordsville location had COVID-19 vaccination clinics on Wednesday and Thursday and administered 100 doses.
In the last 10 days, the company has administered nearly 20,000 doses throughout the Midwest, he said.
“It’s been very efficient; it’s been working really well,” Guglielmi said.
To get a vaccination at a Meijer pharmacy with a COVID-19 vaccination clinic, eligible recipients must register by visiting clinic.meijer.com, texting “COVID” to 75049, or by registering in person at the participating Meijer pharmacy.
Dr. Kristina Box, Indiana state health commissioner, said Meijer, Kroger and Walmart have either begun offering vaccinations or are preparing to do so at select stores throughout the state.
Vaccination sites across Indiana are listed at ourshot.in.gov, but some providers, like Meijer and Kroger, use their own existing appointment scheduling systems, links to which are available on the state’s website. Walmart will use the state’s scheduling system, however, which is also used by hospitals and health departments.
Greenfield’s Walmart was not listed as a vaccination site as of Thursday.
The 211 call center will only be able to help callers sign up for appointments with providers using the state’s scheduling system.
Those receiving a vaccination do not have to get it in their county of residence.
Livesay said 6,471 COVID-19 vaccinations had been administered at Hancock Regional Hospital as of Tuesday, 4,560 of which were first doses and 1,911 of which were second doses.
The hospital continues to administer about 288 doses a day, Livesay added.
The Hancock County Health Department did not return a request for comment on its clinic.
Livesay doesn’t think the hospital will see its vaccine allocation rise due to the state’s 16% increase in supply. Those additional doses will likely go toward appointments across the state that have already been reserved and possibly to benefit other sites, he said.
Hancock Regional Hospital has not wasted any COVID-19 vaccine doses since launching its clinic in December, Livesay continued. Workers look at the day’s schedule every morning to determine how many vials to pull from refrigeration. When the clinic is two hours from closing time, workers hold off on preparing syringes until the people shots are reserved for are in the building to ensure supply meets demand as much as possible.
The COVID-19 vaccines the hospital administers last six hours after being removed from a vial, and two hours after being diluted.
Sometimes those scheduled to receive a vaccine will cancel their appointment or the clinic will near the end of the day with a vaccine vial, which contains multiple doses, that hasn’t been depleted. In those instances, the hospital has a contingency list that people can sign up for and be contacted to get vaccinated and help ensure no doses go to waste.
“But to be quite honest, that list is very long,” Livesay said. “The majority are not going to get called because we don’t have a lot left over at the end of the day.”
The contingency list is not available to people who are not eligible to receive a vaccine, Livesay said.
Box said she’s received reports from around the state of clinics administering COVID-19 vaccinations to those who are not yet eligible, and urged them not to.
“We are working to expand as quickly as possible, but we need everyone in the state to follow the same order of prioritization that we have laid out,” Box said. “This was done intentionally and with input from outside experts with the goals of preventing hospitalizations and saving lives.”
