Indiana residents aged 16 and over will be eligible to sign up for the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, the Indiana State Department of Health announced last week.
Hoosiers can book appointments through ourshot.in.gov or call 2-1-1 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. for assistance registering. Indiana residents can choose from 536 vaccine sites from around the state.
IU’s Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall vaccination site opened Monday. Appointments for the clinic can be scheduled through the state’s sign-up page.
The site will administer the Pfizer vaccine, which has a 3-week waiting period between doses. Individuals can sign up for their second vaccine appointment at Assembly Hall after receiving their first dose.
Doug Booher, executive director for university events, said more than 3,000 vaccine appointments have been scheduled as of Monday, and the next available appointment at Assembly Hall was April 25.
“We are working with the Indiana Department of Health to increase the supply to our site so we can open more appointments beginning next week,” Booher said in an email.
Dr. Lana Dbeibo, director of vaccine initiatives at IU, said the site is open for all members of the community. Students, faculty and staff can use the site to get vaccinated, but will not be given priority over other eligible residents.
Dbeibo said IU is working with the Indiana State Department of Health to get vaccine doses reserved for students, faculty and staff, but said she is not sure when this will happen. She said she hopes it will be within the next few weeks.
She said it may be difficult to schedule appointments for Assembly Hall due to high demand, and she encourages Hoosiers to sign up for any available appointment even if it is not in Bloomington.
“Students don’t have to wait for this arrangement,” Dbeibo said. “If they can get appointments at any other site I would urge them to. The sooner you get vaccinated, the safer you are.”
Students might not be able to sign up for a vaccine appointment at Assembly Hall until the week of April 19, the second-to-last week of classes for the spring semester.
Dbeibo said Indiana residents can get their second shot at any other Indiana site carrying the Pfizer vaccine if they will not be on campus by the time they need their second shot, but out-of-state students should plan more carefully.
“They might not have vaccine availability in their home state,” Dbeibo said. “In that case, I would recommend the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.”
Johnson & Johnson is a single dose vaccine, compared to the two dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The clinic at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will distribute this vaccine to residents. The clinics will be held 9 a.m. to 7 p.m April 1-3, 13 to 18 and 24 to 30. Registration can be found on the state’s sign up page.
Hoosiers can also schedule appointments through many Kroger, CVS, Meijer, Walgreens and Walmart locations. This process is separate from the State of Indiana’s.
