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Appointments Filled At 2 Upcoming Indiana Mass Vaccine Sites

COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to increase with 1,138 Hoosiers hospitalized due to the virus.
COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to increase with 1,138 Hoosiers hospitalized due to the virus.

Coronavirus vaccine shots were given to more than 16,000 people during Indiana’s first mass vaccination clinic and all appointments have been filled for two similar upcoming clinics, state health officials said Tuesday.

The four-day clinic at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway wrapped up Monday with 16,511 getting shots of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Those shots mean that about 725,000 people, or about 11% of Indiana’s population, were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 through Monday, according to the state health department.

All appointments have been taken for the mass vaccination sites set for this Friday and Saturday at Ivy Tech Community College in Sellersburg and March 26-27 at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend. Another mass clinic is being planned for next week at an undetermined site in Gary.

The vaccinations come as Indiana’s current average of about 10 COVID-19 deaths a day is down from the peak of 103 a day in December. Despite that improvement, the state is recording more coronavirus deaths in less than two weeks than the 119 flu deaths reported over 32 weeks during the 2018-19 influenza season.

Indiana has recorded almost 12,800 confirmed or presumed coronavirus-related deaths over the past year.

IDOH reported 593 new cases and 22 additional confirmed deaths Tuesday, bringing the state totals to 668,308 cases and 12,335 confirmed COVID-19 deaths.

The statewide positivity rate dropped to 3.1%.

In Monroe County, there were just eight new cases and zero new confirmed deaths reported Tuesday, while the county's seven-day all-test positivity rate dropped to 0.4%.

Emma Atkinson contributed to this post.

For the latest news and resources about COVID-19, bookmark our Coronavirus In Indiana page  here .

Emma Atkinson is a reporter for WTIU and WFIU News and the anchor of regional newscasts for All Things Considered. She's originally from Champaign, Ill. and graduated from IU with a Bachelor's degree in journalism in 2019. Emma has previously worked as a reporter in Kampala, Uganda and Ketchikan, Alaska.