LOCAL

107 Louisiana pharmacies, 16 in Acadiana may start COVID-19 vaccinations for people ages 70-plus

Andrew Capps
Lafayette Daily Advertiser

The Louisiana Department of Health identified 107 pharmacies across the state Monday that will be able to administer COVID-19 vaccinations to people 70 or older this week.

The vaccines are available by appointment only for people who meet the criteria to be in the state's Phase 1B, Tier One distribution list, which LDH estimates will be about 640,000 people.

Phase 1B, Tier One includes: people ages 70 or older, ambulatory and outpatient medical personnel, dialysis patients, home agency patients and personnel, and the students, staff and residents of schools of allied health.

The state's progression into Phase 1B, Tier One this week marks the first availability in Louisiana of COVID-19 vaccines for people who are not healthcare workers or long-term care facility residents.

When the first doses of vaccines arrived in Louisiana, they were limited to frontline healthcare workers and people in long-term care facilities. As of last week, more than 45,000 healthcare workers and assisted living residents have been given the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines.

The pharmacies are spread across 51 of the state's 64 parishes and will receive Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to administer this week, though the supply remains limited.

The vaccines are being provided for free as part of the federal government's Operation Warp Speed, though the pharmacies that administer the shots are allowed to charge fees to do so, according to LDH.

Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine was granted emergency use authorization by the federal Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 18, allowing hundreds of thousands of doses of the vaccine to be shipped across the country.

More than 14,000 people were given the Moderna vaccine during its clinical trials, during which it was found to be 94% effective in preventing cases of COVID-19 from becoming severe, according to the FDA, though its power to make people immune from COVID-19 altogether remains under study.

In Louisiana, the state's initial shipment of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines was directed to the state's nursing homes and assisted living facilities, where COVID-19 decimated residents last spring, to be given to residents and staff.

The Moderna vaccines being distributed to public pharmacies across the state this week require a two-dose regiment, meaning everyone who receives the vaccine must go back for a second shot that has to be administered 28 days after the initial dose.

The FDA reported that side effects of the Moderna vaccine "typically lasted several days" and include pain at the site of the injection, swollen lymph nodes in the same arm as the injection, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, nausea, vomiting, and fever. Side effects were more common after the second dose of the vaccine, according to the FDA.

Appointments are required, and LDH is urging residents not to go to the pharmacies without an appointment. A full list of pharmacies distributing the COVID-19 vaccines is available on the LDH website.

View a map of pharmacies with COVID-19 vaccines in Louisiana here.

In the eight-parish Acadiana region, 16 pharmacies will be able to administer the vaccines this week. There are no pharmacies receiving the vaccines this week in St. Mary Parish as of Monday.

Where to get the COVID-19 vaccine in Lafayette, Acadiana:

All locations require appointments to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Call or book online to make an appointment.

Lafayette Parish:

Acadia Parish:

Evangeline Parish:

Iberia Parish:

St. Landry Parish:

St. Martin Parish:

Vermilion Parish:

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