All essential workers in Louisiana eligible for COVID-19 vaccine starting March 22

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - Beginning Monday, March 22, all essential workers will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Louisiana, Governor John Bel Edwards announced during a news conference Thursday, March 18.

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Essential workers included are those in food service and grocery stores, manufacturing, construction, clergy, etc. Those newly eligible also include postal, transportation, judiciary, and media workers, as well as faculty and staff of higher education institutions and front-line government workers. This group is called Priority Group 1-B, Tier 2 and covers essential workers not previously eligible.

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“Our vaccine strategy in Louisiana has been to make sure that we were vaccinating the most high-risk individuals to protect them from getting COVID-19 and also preserve capacity in our hospitals. We’ve seen encouraging trends in our percent positivity of tests and also a drop in the number of Louisianans hospitalized with COVID. While many essential workers may already be eligible because of their underlying health conditions, beginning Monday, additional workers in key sectors will be able to get their vaccines, which is good news for tens of thousands of Louisianans who have helped keep our state running during these very trying times,” Gov. Edwards said.

“This is likely the last expansion of vaccine eligibility in Louisiana before we make the shots available to everyone 16 and older, which we are targeting for some time in April,” Edwards said.

“In some areas, it still may be challenging for workers to get an appointment, and I hope they will be patient with our vaccine providers who have worked tirelessly during this unprecedented vaccine effort. President Biden recently set a goal to open eligibility to all adults by the start of May, and I am confident, through continued commitments of doses from the federal government, that Louisiana will exceed this goal,” Edwards said.

“I look forward to a day soon when all adult Louisianans are eligible for these safe and effective vaccines and we are no longer losing so many of our family members and neighbors to COVID-19.”

PRIORITY GROUPS IN LOUISIANA

Priority Group 1-A: Ongoing

Healthcare workers at Tier 1 and Tier 2 hospitals
Staff and residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities
First responders to serve as vaccinators (Emergency Medical Services, fire personnel, law enforcement)

Priority Group 1-B, Tier One: Ongoing

Dialysis providers and patients
Ambulatory and outpatient providers and staff
Behavioral health providers and staff
Urgent care clinic providers and staff
Community care providers and staff
Dental providers and staff
Nonemergency Medical Transportation staff
Professional home care providers (including hospice workers and both paid and unpaid home care staff) and home care recipients (including older and younger people with disabilities over the age of 16 who receive community or home-based care, as well as clients of home health agencies)
American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and Support Service Providers (SSPs) working in community and clinic-based settings, and clients who are both deaf and blind
Health-related support personnel (lab staff, mortuary staff who have contact with corpses, pharmacy staff)
Schools of allied health students, residents, and staff
Law enforcement and other first responders
Persons 65 years old and older
Louisiana Unified Command Group
State and local essential COVID emergency response personnel
Some elections staff ahead of March and April elections
Teachers and any other support staff working onsite in K-12 or daycare
Legislators and legislative staff
All pregnant persons, regardless of age
Staff of congregate living facilities

Individuals aged 16-64 with at least one of the conditions listed by the CDC as placing them at an increased or likely risk of severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19. The CDC list of conditions can be found here. They are:

Asthma (moderate to severe)
Cancer
Cerebrovascular disease
Chronic kidney disease
Chronic liver disease
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
Cystic fibrosis
Severe neurologic conditions such as dementia
Down Syndrome
Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
Hypertension
Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant
Immunocompromised state from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune weakening medicines
Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30kg/m2 or higher but < 40kg/m2)
Severe obesity (BMIC >40kg/m2)
Overweight (BMI 25-30 kg/m2)
Pregnancy
Pulmonary fibrosis
Sickle Cell Disease
Smoking
Thalassemia (a type of blood disorder)
Type 1 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes mellitus

Priority Group 1-B, Tier Two: Starting Monday, March 22

Higher Education faculty/staff
Food and agricultural workers
Food service (restaurant/bar) workers, hotel workers, and other hospitality workers
Judiciary staff, including judges, court staff, clerks of court and staff, district attorneys, and public defenders
Postal workers
Manufacturing workers
Grocery store workers
Transportation workers, including river pilots
Water and wastewater workers
Energy workers
Bank tellers
Construction workers
Clergy
IT and communications workers
Media workers
Public safety engineers and other workers
Public health workers
Frontline government workers
Child, youth, and family service workers
Veterinarians and support staff
Waste management workers
Public and private security and emergency preparedness workers