As vaccine eligibility widens, wait times are increasing.
Local and state health officials are urging patience, and locals who have been vaccinated say it is worth the wait. Some reported waiting a month to get their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Others were vaccinated within days.
As of Wednesday, more than 35,500 Johnson County residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 23,484 are fully vaccinated, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
Wait times are likely to increase with about 2.2 million more Hoosiers becoming eligible for a vaccine next Wednesday.
Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Tuesday plans to open the vaccine to all Hoosiers 16 and older, which would make those ranging in age from 16 to 39 eligible for the first time.
Indiana next week will receive 210,910 first doses of vaccine and an equal number of second doses, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Vaccine availability is expected to increase by about 30% on Monday, while the population of those eligible for a vaccine will increase by more than 400% on Wednesday.
Most of those vaccines are already claimed. Vaccine clinics in Johnson County are booked for weeks, with few appointments available to newly eligible populations, officials in charge of local vaccine sites said.
Some eligible residents turned to sites outside Johnson County to get the vaccine faster. Others chose to make a local appointment and wait a little longer.
Availability and distribution
State officials said they are comfortable expanding eligibility to all because Indiana will continue to get more and more supply of vaccines. President Joe Biden’s administration promised to have enough supply for all Americans by May.
Though supply will increase, Holcomb and State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box acknowledged Wednesday there may be a significant wait for many Hoosiers. Box estimated wait times could increase to four to six weeks from roughly three weeks.
Since many of the most vulnerable Hoosiers, based on age, have had “ample time” to get vaccinated, a longer wait is OK for Hoosiers 39 and younger, Box said.
About 32% of the state’s population — those 16 and older — has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including 1 million who are now fully vaccinated.
Holcomb also announced more mass vaccination clinics, including at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with registration open immediately at ourshot.in.gov. Up to 6,000 shots per day will be given at IMS on 16 days. Appointments are available April 1-3, April 13-18 and April 24-30.
Vaccines are available at least 11 sites in Johnson County: Johnson Memorial Hospital, Adult and Child Health Primary Care in Franklin, Windrose Health in Edinburgh, Sam’s Club in Greenwood and all Kroger and Walmart stores in the county. The vaccine is also available at Franciscan Health – Indianapolis and Community Hospital South, both just across the county line.
The joint Johnson County Health Department and hospital site will split April 1. The hospital will continue giving Pfizer vaccines, and the health department will give Moderna vaccines at Compass Park’s event center starting April 5.
Together, the health department and hospital distribute 400 to 500 doses per day, or about 2,500 per week, said Dr. Craig Moorman, county health officer.
The number of shots given could increase in the coming weeks if the health department decides it can distribute more at Compass Park and the state makes more doses available, Moorman said.
Health officials urge patience
On Monday, Windrose Health in Edinburgh was the only local vaccine clinic with appointments available within a week.
Locally, Windrose provides the most doses per week after the county’s clinic, with a capacity of 400 shots per week for the past three weeks, said Scott Rollett, Windrose president and CEO. Starting next week, the clinic will increase its capacity to 500 doses per week, he said.
Windrose’s capacity has increased with the eligible population, so there are more shots available there than at other clinics, Rollett said. So far, demand has been steady, but it might decline due to hesitancy among younger Hoosiers, he said.
Elsewhere in the county, about 100 shots per week are given at each Kroger store, and between 75 and 100 are given at Adult and Child Health in Franklin. The number of shots available at Walmart and Sam’s Club is not available.
Each time eligibility has expanded, the wait has grown longer, and the system has bogged down on the first day of new eligibility due to the demand, Moorman said.
“It is a chronic issue trying to get an appointment, particularly whenever they open it up to a new population,” Moorman said. “The system doesn’t handle that kind of load very well.”
The same is likely to happen on March 31. Moorman urged residents to be patient with the process.
Box on Wednesday further urged Hoosiers to be patient in their wait to get a vaccine, and to get the first vaccine that is available to them, as supply of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine remains lower than the two-dose shots.
‘We are very lucky’
Though waits have grown longer, residents are understanding.
When Greenwood residents Beth and Steve Ritchie became eligible for the vaccine with the 65 and older age group, they had multiple options at multiple vaccine sites.
They waited about three weeks for an appointment that best fit their schedules at the site they wanted, Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital, Beth Ritchie said. At the time, availability was open enough that they could have gotten a shot sooner, she said.
The wait made traveling to a mass vaccination clinic an attractive option for residents in their 50s, who became eligible when the first of the mass vaccination clinics were announced.
Lourdes Hurtado and her husband got their shots at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, because the earliest appointment they could find at the time in Johnson County was next Monday.
It was an easy process and a short commute for the reward of being protected in the classroom, Hurtado said. The Franklin College professor wanted to be vaccinated as quickly as possible to protect herself and her students, she said.
On the other hand, Mary Plummer waited a month to get her shot because she wanted to be vaccinated at the county’s clinic at Johnson Memorial.
Despite the wait, most were understanding, given the number of people vying for a small number of shots. The Ritchie’s and Hurtado’s felt lucky to get the shot when they did, given the difficulty some are experiencing in other parts of the country and world, they said.
“We are very lucky in Indiana,” Beth Ritchie said.
For vaccinated Hoosiers, hugging their families and being protected at work made it worth the wait.
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Here is a look at how those eligible can register for a vaccine:
Johnson Memorial Hospital
When: Vaccines available 8 a.m. to 3:50 p.m. Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturdays.
Where: Old emergency wing, 1125 W Jefferson St, Franklin. Parking in Blue Lot H.
Registration: Online at ourshot.in.gov. Call 211 or any Johnson County Public Library for help registering.
Adult and Child Health Franklin
When: Vaccines available noon to 4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Where: 1860 Northwood Plaza, Franklin
Registration: Online at ourshot.in.gov. Call 211 or any Johnson County Public Library for help registering.
Windrose Health Edinburgh
When: Vaccines available 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. On Wednesdays the clinic is closed to the public but is open give shots allocated for regular Windrose patients.
Where: 911 E. Main Cross Street, Edinburgh
Registration: Online at ourshot.in.gov. Call 211 or any Johnson County Public Library for help registering.
Walmart and Sam’s Club Pharmacies
Where: Walmart stores at 2125 N Morton St, Franklin; 882 S State Road 135, Greenwood; 1133 N Emerson Avenue, Greenwood; Sams Club at 1101 Windhorst Way, Greenwood.
Registration: Online at ourshot.in.gov. Call 211 or any Johnson County Public Library for help registering.
Kroger Pharmacies
When: Daily, during pharmacy business hours
Where: Kroger stores at 5961 N State Road 135, Greenwood; 2200 Independence Dr., Greenwood; 970 N. Morton St., Franklin; 3100 Meridian Parke Dr., Greenwood; 8850 S Emerson Ave, Indianapolis.
Registration: kroger.com/rx/covid-eligibility
Meijer Pharmacies
When: During pharmacy hours.
Where: Select Meijer stores in Indiana.
Registration: Text COVID to 75049, visit clinic.meijer.com/register, call your local pharmacy.
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