A second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine booster is now available for some Hoosiers.
Last week the Indiana State Department of Health announced that those who are 12 and older with weakened immune systems are eligible for a second booster. Anyone over 50 who has received a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at least four months ago are also eligible for the second booster dose, according to the ISDH press release.
The second booster dose was authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Second boosters of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will be available to those who qualify “to increase their protection against severe disease from COVID-19,” the release states.
Anyone who received a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least four months ago can also get a second booster dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
“Booster doses have been shown to increase protection from hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 and the Omicron variant of the virus,” ISDH states.
To find a vaccine location visit www.ourshot.in.gov or call Indiana 211 (866-211-9966) for assistance. Appointments are recommended.
Also last week ISDH announced changes to the state COVID-19 dashboard to “align with national reporting measurements and better reflect the impact the pandemic is having on communities and healthcare systems.”
The dashboard was updated daily, reflecting the number of positive cases, deaths related to COVID-19 and how many residents had been tested. The dashboard will now be updated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays by 5 p.m. each week. ISDH will continue to report the number of positive cases, deaths and overall testing numbers.
Beginning with the update on March 30, ISDH will no longer publish the state’s county metric map.
ISDH had been updating the COVID-19 spread metric map every Wednesday, placing counties in “blue,” “yellow,” “orange” or “red” advisory levels with the red level being the highest.
The county-by-county status map at coronavirus.in.gov was based on positive test numbers and whether or not cases are increasing or decreasing.
Now ISDH will follow the community transmission measurements recently announced by the CDC.
Under the new CDC measurements, counties are classified in three different levels: low (green), medium (yellow) and high (orange).
The levels are determined by how many hospital beds are being used, the number of hospital admissions and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area, according to the CDC.
If a county is in the “green” level residents are advised to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and get tested if they have any symptoms.
Under the “yellow” level, residents are advised to follow the same measures under the green level along with talking to a doctor about whether or not they should wear a mask and take other precautions if they are at high risk for severe illness.
Residents are advised to wear masks indoors in public under the “orange” level in addition to following the same guidance as the other two levels with more precautions possibly being necessary for those who are high risk for severe illness, according to the CDC.
As of March 31, Brown County joined the majority of the country in the “green” level on the CDC map.
To see the CDC map click here.
