After Indiana’s largest age expansion for vaccine eligibility, 5.4 million Hoosiers are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Gov. Eric Holcomb dropped the minimum age requirement to 16 years old, so those eligible could start scheduling appointments March 31.
Eligible Hoosiers can book appointments both online at vaccine.coronavirus.in.gov or over the phone by dialing 211. With 596 vaccination sites to choose from, people can schedule their vaccine anywhere in the state for any of the three vaccines — Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson.
One of those sites is now on IU’s campus. Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall opened as Monroe County’s vaccination center March 29, administering the Pfizer vaccine.
On the opening day of the new site, people with appointments said it was easy to take their shot at Assembly Hall. Bloomington resident Carolyn Leinenbach said the shot didn’t hurt and there wasn’t a wait at all.
Although there wasn’t a wait to get the vaccine, the wait to book an appointment at Assembly Hall isn’t nearly as short.
When appointments opened up to eligible students two days later, the earliest appointments weren’t until late April — just before finals week. Since Assembly Hall is only offering the two-dose Pfizer vaccine, students need to come back three weeks later to get their second shot.
“You can get an appointment pretty quickly if you need to,” said Matt Cohen, an Indiana Daily Student COVID-19 reporter. “It’s kind of hit or miss and you should check constantly. But it’s more likely you’re going to be waiting until probably middle to late April to get the first dose of the vaccine.”
That’s why state officials are recommending that students get the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine — especially if they’re from out of state.
“I would say that it’s probably better to go somewhere else if you can,” Cohen said. “If you can wait to get Assembly Hall vaccine and if it’s easier for the commute to it, you definitely can get an appointment. However, it’s said to be accessible, but it’s not really accessible — especially if you’re an out-of-state student.”
Even though the options for students to get vaccines are now vast, some students were upset they couldn’t get them earlier — especially those with health concerns.
“So, I have diabetes and I was frustrated that it got opened up to everyone at the same time instead of going to people with health concerns or just smaller age groups at a time,” IU senior Kevin Jehl said.
But now, all Hoosiers over the age of 16 have the same access to COVID-19 vaccine appointments. And for the most part, Hoosiers have been pretty happy with how efficient the vaccine rollout process has been.
“People from Indiana, we’re kind of known to be resilient and also really efficient. I think we’ve really done a good job with the rollout,” Jasper, Indiana, resident Rachael Himsel said. “I’m very happy to be a Hoosier and I’m very happy that IU is really cooperating and providing such support for our state.”