Louisiana Expands Rollout of Coronavirus Vaccine to Seniors

KBRZ-TV reports that the state of Louisiana on Monday widened the distribution of coronavirus vaccines to seniors, boosting the doses available to people aged 70 and older in the second week of eligibility and expanding sites where they can get shots to every parish. The state Department of Health's list of pharmacies offering the vaccine to seniors, which numbered 107 last week, increased to 209 across the 64 parishes this week. Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration also was directing thousands more doses to the facilities for vaccinations of people 70 and up, and a broader group of healthcare workers than those who qualified in the first weeks of immunizations. "Eligible residents must contact a participating provider and make an appointment with them. Patients who arrive without an appointment will not be vaccinated," the health department stated. Meanwhile, some hospital systems are reaching out to senior patients to offer them surplus Pfizer vaccine doses they received for their workers, many of whom have not yet agreed to get inoculated.