Nearly 40% of Hoosiers 16 and over vaccinated for COVID-19

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Nearly 40% of Indiana residents ages 16 and older have now been fully vaccinated for COVID-19, state health officials said Monday, even as the state’s rate of vaccination shots remains sluggish.

The Indiana Department of Health said about 2.14 million Hoosiers - or 39.3% of Indiana’s roughly 5.3 million residents ages 16 and older - have been fully vaccinated, while 2.44 million first doses of vaccine have been administered statewide.

Indiana officials made all state residents age 16 and older eligible for COVID-19 vaccines on March 31.

Health officials said last week that Indiana’s rate of COVID-19 vaccination shots has remained sluggish in recent weeks, spurring concerns about the increased risk from more contagious coronavirus variants at a time when so many people are not yet immunized against the coronavirus.

Officials said last week that Indiana’s vaccination rate has remained at about 40,000 people a day over the previous three weeks. And as of Sunday, the state’s 7-day average of total daily doses of vaccine was 34,557. That’s down from the state’s peak of more than 50,000 a day in early April.

The health department reported 607 newly confirmed coronavirus cases Monday as Indiana’s total pandemic cases rose above 730,000. The agency also reported one more Indiana death from COVID-19, bringing the state’s pandemic toll to 13,419 confirmed or presumed coronavirus-related deaths.