1.5% of residents receive vaccine

9,700 have gotten their first COVID-19 shot in Lake, Porter counties

So far, 9,700 people have gotten their first COVID-19 vaccine shot in Lake and Porter counties, according to the Indiana State Department of Health’s online dashboard. That represents about 1.5% of each county — 7,000 doses in Lake County, with 1,700 in Porter as of Jan. 5.

Community Hospital in Munster has administered nearly 5,000 shots since Dec. 15, spokeswoman Elise Sims said. It is one of Indiana’s original five pilot hospitals, covering vaccines for health care workers in Lake, Porter, Jasper and Newton counties.

Methodist Hospitals has administered about 2,500 shots from Pfizer and Moderna since Dec. 18, Chief Medical Officer Vincent Sevier said in a statement.

“The process has run smoothly and we have been gratified by the response from the vast majority of health care workers, who are relieved and grateful to have the vaccines available to them,” he said.

Franciscan is preparing to give second doses of the vaccine this weekend, spokesman Robert Blaszkiewicz said.

“Our teams have done an outstanding job of standing up vaccine clinics, staffing them and making sure that we are maximizing use of the valuable vaccine doses we have been provided,” he said.

Health care workers, nursing home residents and staff, mental health providers, firefighters, police officers are now eligible, under Indiana’s guidelines.

Indiana began allowing all residents 80 and older to schedule a vaccine appointment Friday. More than 250,000 eligible residents can call 2-1-1 or go to ourshot.in.gov to schedule at the webpage’s bottom section.

Vaccines would be available through 55 hospitals and 91 county health departments. Those include Methodist in Gary and Merrillville, Community Hospital in Munster, Franciscan i n Ha mmon d , Crown Point and Michigan City. Each person would be directed to the nearest vaccine site.

Eligibility would to shift to those in their 70s, then 60s later, state health officials said.

About 1.5 million residents are 60 and older, accounting for 93% of Indiana’s COVID-19 deaths, officials said.

The goal is to protect those at the greatest risk and vulnerable workers by age, Indiana Health Commissioner Kristina Box said.

All hospitals said they were referring residents with questions on when they would be eligible to the Indiana State Department of Health.