Covid-19 Vaccination News

Effective today, Louisiana's Shot For $100 vaccine incentive program is back - and will extend to November 30 for the general public including college students eligible for the COVID vaccine in Louisiana. Families of 5-to-11-year-olds are now eligible.

Community flu and COVID clinics are open to the public, and walk-ups are welcome. Wear short or loose-fitting sleeves and, if you have it, bring your private insurance, Medicaid or Medicare card.

Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced he will lift Louisiana's statewide mask mandate in all settings except for K-12 schools, after sustained improvement across the state in terms of new cases, test positivity and hospitalizations. The Governor's updated order allows school districts to opt out of the mask mandate as long as they continue to follow the existing quarantine guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to better separate exposed students and faculty members from others and avoid outbreaks on campus.

In addition, a COVID-19 booster is recommended for everyone 18 years old and above who received the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson COVID-19) vaccine. This new guidance is effective immediately.

Each site is open 7 days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. with an ability to serve more than 150 patients daily per site.

The Louisiana Department of Health can confirm a COVID-19 outbreak connected to a recent wedding in Abbeville. The Department considers all attendees of this wedding to be exposed to COVID-19 and encourages all attendees to take public health precautions.

Patients must receive the vaccine at participating community-based sites as listed on ShotFor100.com. Anyone receiving their first shot is eligible and may only participate once.

"There is no doubt that our COVID-19 situation in Louisiana has improved since the peak of our fourth surge, which was largely driven by the Delta variant, and for that I am deeply grateful," said Gov. Edwards. "Even so, the amount of COVID in Louisiana is still incredibly high, at 243 cases for every 100,000 people, as it is disproportionately driven by transmission in those five to 18 years old.

All 14 cases involved mothers who were unvaccinated, and resulted in 6 maternal deaths and 10 fetal deaths.

Effective immediately, booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are available to adults at increased risk, following new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).