MONROE, La. – The Louisiana Department of Health will hold mass vaccination events across the state using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Vaccinations will be given Monday, March 16 at the Monroe Civic Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with 750 doses available. The full list of statewide vaccination sites is available here. Additional dates will be announced as more vaccine becomes available.
The first shipment of Johnson & Johnson vaccine arrived in Louisiana this week and has been allocated to all nine public health regions according to population size.
“While COVID vaccine supply remains limited, we are excited to have enough vaccine to be able to begin holding mass vaccination events this week across the state and give residents another way to access the vaccine,” said Dr. Courtney Phillips, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
“These events, while important, are just one piece of the larger puzzle that is our vaccine rollout. To ensure everyone has access to the vaccines, including our underserved communities, we know we need a mix of options — hospitals, pharmacies, clinics and targeted community events.”
Office of Public Health Regional Medical Directors worked with community partners and the Louisiana National Guard to organize events — a mix of mass vaccination events, large-scale community events, and targeted clinics for teachers who are now eligible.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was authorized for emergency use by the FDA on February 27. It is given in one dose. The vaccine can last up to three months in the refrigerator, compared to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that must be stored at very cold temperatures.
“Most importantly, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine does exactly what we want a vaccine against this terrible virus to do – it is 100% effective at preventing you from being hospitalized or dying,” said Dr. Joseph Kanter, state health officer. “Like the other two COVID vaccines, this is a highly effective, safe vaccine and residents should get the first vaccine offered to them.”
Vaccines are available only to the following groups:
Phase 1A
- Hospital personnel
- Nursing home and long-term care provider residents and staff
- Frontline responders to serve as vaccinators (EMS, law enforcement and fire personnel)
Phase 1B, Tier 1
- Persons 65 and older
- Dialysis providers and patients
- Ambulatory and outpatient providers and staff
- Behavioral health providers and staff
- Urgent care clinic providers and staff
- Community care providers and staff
- Dental providers and staff
- Non-emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) providers and staff
- Professional home care providers (including hospice workers) and home care recipients (including older and younger people with disabilities over the age of 16 who receive community or home-based care, as well as clients of home health agencies)
- American Sign Language (ASL) and foreign language interpreters and Support Service Providers (SSPs) working in community and clinic-based settings, and clients who are both deaf and blind
- Health-related support personnel (lab staff, mortuary staff who have contact with corpses, pharmacy staff)
- Schools of allied health students, residents and staff Law enforcement and other first responders
- Louisiana Unified Command Group Legislators State and local essential COVID emergency response personnel
- Some elections staff ahead of March and April elections
- Teachers and any other support staff working on site in K-12 or daycare
- All pregnant persons
- Individuals ages 55-64 with at least one of the conditions listed by the CDC as placing them at an “increased risk of severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19.”
Persons with the following qualifying underlying medical conditions are advised to complete the Louisiana COVID-19 Vaccine Attestation Form, before their appointment, to receive the vaccine:
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney disease
- COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
- Down syndrome
- Heart conditions including but not limited to heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathies
- Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant
- Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30kg/m2 or higher but less than 40kg/m2)
- Severe obesity (BMI greater than 40kg/m2)
- Sickle cell disease
- Smoking
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus
