INDIANAPOLIS — During a Wednesday briefing, state health leaders announced the next groups that will become eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Currently, Hoosiers 65 and older can sign up for an appointment. Once the state receives more vaccines, they will open it up to ages 60 to 65, then to those in their 50s.
About 98 percent of the state’s COVID-19 deaths are people 50 and older.
“We continue to use data to drive our decisions," said Dr. Lindsey Weaver, ISDH chief medical officer. "We reviewed risk based on age and the CDC’s list of conditions that lead to an increased risk of severe illness from the virus.”
The other group that will become eligible is Hoosiers younger than 50 with certain co-morbidities. That’s about 51,000 people. The health conditions include people on dialysis, people with Down syndrome, post-solid organ transplant recipients, sickle cell disease patients and those undergoing cancer treatment or who have received treatment in the last three months.
When it is time, those individuals will be contacted by their health care provider.
“We know these categories do not include all Hoosiers who have conditions that put them at greater risk of COVID, but we are working to expand to those most at risk as quickly as our vaccine supplies allow us to do so,” Weaver said.
The state did not give a timeline for when the next group will become eligible. They said it is based on the vaccine supply. Right now, Indiana is receiving about 100,000 vaccines a week.