ALL ADULTS ELIGIBLE - Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is expanding COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all adults 16 and older beginning Monday.
Edwards announcement at Wednesday's press conference coincides with a large increase in Louisiana's allocation next week of the two-dose Moderna and Pfizer vaccines and the single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Sixteen-year-olds are only eligible for the Pfizer vaccine.
More than 1 million Louisianans have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 611,494 people who have completed their vaccine series. Louisiana's population is about 4.6 million people.
The state expects to get 147,000 doses next week as the expansion of eligibility begins. Louisiana remains in Phase 3 of reopening with a mask mandate in place. Edwards current order expires next week. Neighboring governors in Texas and Mississippi have dropped their mask mandates.
Louisiana crossed a grim milestone this week with more than 10,000 COVID deaths, but hospitalizations are at their lowest point in more than a year.
