<p>INDIANAPOLIS — 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.</p>
<p>The Indiana Department of Health <a href="https://www.coronavirus.in.gov/vaccine/2680.htm">said about 2.14 million Hoosiers</a> — 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.</p>
<p>Indiana officials <a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-indiana-coronavirus-pandemic-coronavirus-vaccine-83dfea92186ce3be2b547b65bfe2a927">made all state residents age 16 and older eligible for COVID-19 vaccines</a> on March 31.</p>
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<a href="https://apnews.com/article/indiana-coronavirus-pandemic-health-ab4e8352248c77cdfaa30e4cc2ed8a5c">Health officials said last week that Indiana’s rate of COVID-19 vaccination shots has remained sluggish in recent weeks</a>, 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
