Governor John Bel Edwards announced that starting on Monday, March 29, any Louisianan 16 and older will have access to the vaccine.
Pharmacists at Towne Pharmacy in Broussard say this will remove a pre-screening process. They say the process was necessary when the vaccine was limited by age or condition, but now that it’s open to basically everyone, the pre-screening is no longer needed.
“It’s just going to make our jobs a lot easier,” said Jonathan Landry. “We’ll just be able to give the shot without having to do any pre-screening. Sometimes that kinda slows the process down. It was necessary, obviously, but it’s just going to be a big burden off our backs to just be able to give it to everybody.”
This comes as Acadiana reaches an average of almost 10% of the population being vaccinated, with Lafayette Parish at 12.66% and Vermilion Parish with 8.26% of their populations vaccinated.
In Wednesday’s press conference, Governor Edwards announced that anybody 16 and older can now join the state’s vaccination effort.
“Doesn’t matter about health condition, doesn't matter about occupation, 16 years and older will be the determining factor for eligibility,” said Gov. Edwards.
The side effects of the vaccine include flu-like symptoms, but Landry says it is normal to feel them after the vaccine, adding they're a sign your immune system is building up the defense against the virus.
“It’s your immune system responding, usually you see that more strongly in the younger population, so now that its wide open for everybody, and the younger population will be coming in, usually with that second shot, you have a stronger response in the younger population,” he said.
Landry says this isn’t the first polarizing vaccine, but that everyone should think of one common goal: going back to normal.
“There’s been hesitation with vaccines in the past for sure, and this one is a very polarizing vaccine,” he said. “I just highly recommend for everyone to get it if you can, and just kind of help get our country back running.”
KATC reached out to Mayor-President Josh Guillory's administration to see if residents can expect a mass vaccination event in the near future. His team says they are discussing the possibility.
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