States have begun lifting eligibility requirements for COVID-19 vaccines as regular shipments continue to climb.
So far, roughly 72 million people have received at least one dose of a vaccine, or roughly a quarter of the adult population, at a rate of about 2.4 million shots given each day. The United States is on pace to cover 75% of the population in about five months.
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Nearly half of all adults to have received at least one dose are 65 and older, the age group at highest risk of severe cases of COVID-19. The total number of seniors to be vaccinated so far has reached about 18.7 million, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
BIDEN WILL USE PRIME-TIME ADDRESS TO DIRECT STATES TO MAKE ALL ADULTS VACCINE-ELIGIBLE BY MAY 1
The pace is ahead of President Biden’s goals. His early objective was to administer 100 million shots in 100 days, a goal considered unambitious by public health experts. Below are the states that have taken steps to make the vaccine accessible to all adults.
Note that the two-shot Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been deemed safe for people 16 and older, while the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have been authorized for adults 18 and older.
- Alaska — Currently, anyone 16 or older can get a COVID-19 vaccine. To date, 194,705 shots have been administered, and 135,482 Alaskans have been fully vaccinated, according to the state’s health department. Sixty percent of Alaskans over 65 have been fully vaccinated, as well as 19% of the total population. Roughly 27% of the state population has received at least one dose.
- Mississippi — Currently, anyone 16 or older living or working in Mississippi can get a vaccine. To date, 592,500 Mississippians have at least one dose (about 20% of the state population), and 323,819 people in Mississippi have been fully vaccinated, per state health department tracking. To date, more than 277,800 adults 65 or older have received at least one dose. Nearly 182,700 adults in that age range have been fully vaccinated so far.
- Connecticut — Starting April 5, adults 16 and older will be eligible to make an appointment for the vaccine, according to Gov. Ned Lamont, who announced the updated target on Monday. The schedule initially said that adults ages 45 to 54 would become eligible on March 22, followed by those 35 to 44 on April 12, and people 16 and older on May 3. To date, more than 1,442,400 million doses have been administered, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. About 12.5% of the state population has been fully vaccinated, Bloomberg said.
- Maine — Mainers ages 50 to 59 are slated to get vaccine access to vaccine appointments on April 1, followed by the rest of the state’s adult population on May 1, two months earlier than had been previously planned. To date, 512,284 doses of vaccine have been administered. More than 189,200 Maine residents have been fully vaccinated, the state’s health department said.
- Michigan — Starting April 5, the vaccine will be offered to all Michiganders age 16 and older. More than 3,084,200 doses of vaccine have been administered in Michigan. Nearly 2 million people have been fully vaccinated, about 24.4% of the population, per state health department data.
- Ohio — Starting March 29, all Ohioans 16 and older will be eligible for the vaccine. About 2,390,000 doses have been administered so far, and 1,397,000 people have been fully vaccinated, according to the state’s health department.
