GOVERNOR EXPANDS COVID VACCINE ELIGIBILITY—Yesterday Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards lowered the coronavirus vaccine eligibility age to 65. People 70 and older had been allowed to receive the two-dose vaccine. That will drop to 65 starting Monday and place Louisiana in line with more than half the nation’s other states.
"We know that people over 65 are much more likely to die from Covid than thos who are younger," Edwards explained. "And in fact data from the CDC shows that people 65 to 74 are five times more likely to be hospitalized if they contract Covid-19 and they are ninety times more likely to die and this is relative to individuals in the 18 to 29 age group."
Governor Edwards also expanded vaccine eligibility to officials handling COVID-19 response work, including all statewide elected officials and some election workers ahead of the upcoming March election. More than 400,000 Louisianians have received their first dose.
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