Louisiana residents ages 65 and older will be eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine starting Monday, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced in a press conference on Thursday (February 4).
"I believe this is in line with what about 29 other states are doing, including most of the states in our region," he said.
Currently, Louisiana only offers vaccines to people 70 and older, frontline workers, people living and working at nursing homes and longterm care facilities, and people with kidney failure. Edwards addressed the need to open up vaccinations for more older residents saying, "People 65 to 74 are five times more likely to be hospitalized and 90 times higher to die (versus people ages 18 to 29)."
Louisiana recently joined a federal pharmacy partnership that could bring more doses of available COVID-19 vaccines each week, in addition to what the state already receives from the federal government.
"An increase in supply of doses and our strong progress in vaccinating Louisianans allows us to expand vaccine eligibility to people 65 and older, meaning many of the most vulnerable who are most at risk for suffering serious COVID complications or death will be able to schedule their appointments beginning on Monday," said Edwards.
He continued, "It's absolutely critical that we vaccinate as many people as we can and that everyone in Louisiana gets their shot when it is their turn and continues to wear masks, stay home when they can, keep social distance, and avoid gatherings with people outside of their immediate household."
As of Thursday, more than half a million doses of the vaccine have been administered across the state, with over 130,000 having received two doses for full inoculation.
Photo: Getty Images