Indiana no longer will vaccinate people who live out-of-state.
The state’s original protocol for vaccine eligibility covered anybody who lives or works in Indiana, but that eligibility is now reserved for Hoosiers.
"If you work here, you could become infected here and take it back home to the other state, or you could become infected in your home state and bring it here when you come to work. That was the rationale," said Penny Caudill, Monroe County Health Administrator.
Caudill said the change was made due to an increasing number of people from neighboring counties coming over the Indiana border to get vaccinated.
"They [state] have looked at the number of vaccines they’ve done. It has been quite a few, and so they have decided to only take residents," Caudill said.
According to NPR's data, Indiana is distributing the vaccine more efficiently than adjacent states Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky. The state is using 81% of its administered doses, while the other three states range from 72-74%.
Caudill said people can get vaccinated in Monroe County if they can prove in-state residency and meet the current age requirement, and that applies to IU students as well.
"The vast majority of students are not eligible to be vaccinated at this time anyway," Caudill said.
Once students are eligible to receive an inoculation, Caudill said they will have to prove they live on-campus or in an apartment in town.
The head of IU’s COVID-19 response, Kirk White, said out-of-state concerns played a major role in the university not allowing the general public to purchase tickets for NCAA tournament games at Assembly Hall next month.
READ MORE: State Officials Remain Optimistic Indiana Can Safely Host March Madness With Fans
"One of the things we discussed is, if we had thousands of people coming to Bloomington, this would mean bringing people here from all over the country," White said. "That was encouraging travel. That was encouraging all kinds of mixing that we weren’t sure was going to be as safe as it could be."
Opening round games in Bloomington will be limited to 500 close friends and families of players, as well as some availability for fully vaccinated healthcare workers.
