BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's Department of Health (LDH) issued a Monday (Jan. 18) morning notice stating that during the week of Jan. 18, a total of 298 vaccine providers across the state will receive very limited doses of the COVID vaccine. 

LDH says these providers, which include 150 chain pharmacies, 112 independent pharmacies, 19 federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), 3 rural health clinics (RHCs), and an additional 14 healthcare sites, represent all nine public health regions and 64 parishes of the state.

While the state was able to resupply the majority of providers that received COVID vaccine doses last week, future distribution is dependent on vaccine made available to the state, among other factors. To stress, there is no guarantee that providers receiving vaccine this week will receive vaccine in the future, LDH says. 

These vaccines will be available only for those in Phase 1B, Tier 1: 

-Persons ages 70 years or older

-Outpatient clinic providers and clinic staff

-Urgent care clinic providers and staff

-Community care clinic providers and staff

-Behavioral health clinic providers and staff

-Dialysis providers and clients 

-Home health service providers, direct support workers and recipients including people with disabilities over 16

-Dental providers and staff

-Ambulatory care providers and staff, including members of coroner, autopsy, or mortuary teams.

-Students, residents, faculty and staff of allied health schools

Participating providers must make available vaccine available to anyone who is eligible. Failure to do so will inform future decisions about distribution.   

LDH has published the list of participating providers, along with their locations and contact information, on its website: covidvaccine.la.gov.

Residents can also call 211 to find a vaccine provider near them.

LDH urges elibgible residents to contact a participating provider and make an appointment with them as patients who arrive without an appointment will not be vaccinated. Officials are warning members of the public not to arrive at a location without an appointment. 

LDH also notes that it cannot make appointments for patients; only providers can.

The Louisiana Department of Health is coordinating the COVID-19 vaccine distribution effort in Louisiana. As more vaccines become available from the CDC, more individuals and groups will be offered a vaccination.

In concluding its Monday morning notice, the organization stated: "We want everyone to have the opportunity to get vaccinated against COVID. We are confident that COVID-19 vaccines will be a critical tool in ultimately ending the pandemic. "