Texas, Georgia and Indiana join growing list of states giving every resident over 16 access to the COVID vaccine - so when will the rest do the same?
The governors of Texas, Georgia and Indiana have announced plans to make open eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine to anyone over 16 within the next week.
Georgia Gov Brian Kemp said on Tuesday that starting this Thursday 'all adults in Georgia over the age of 16 will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine'.
Indiana Gov Eric Holcomb tweeted that vaccine eligibility will be open to all residents '16 years and older on Wednesday, March 31, provided Indiana receives a large increase in the amount of vaccine as outlined by the federal government'.
In Texas, Gov Greg Abbott shared that the state will open COVID-19 vaccine appointments 'to all adults' beginning on Monday.
The three states join West Virginia, Tennessee and Arizona which announced plans to offer vaccines to anyone over 16 within the next two weeks.
The governors of Texas, Georgia and Indiana have announced plans to make their vaccinations against COVID-19 available to anyone over 16 within the next week. Residents of Georgia are seen getting the vaccine on Tuesday
As of Tuesday, about 83.9 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including about 45.5 million people who have been fully vaccinated
Two states - Mississippi and Alaska - are already inoculating residents 16 and up, but West Virginia, Tennessee and Arizona revealed plans to expand access by May 3.
The news comes as new coronavirus infections are rising in several US states - something being attributed to pandemic fatigue plus new variants from the UK, Brazil, South Africa and within the US.
The seven-day average of newly reported cases climbed 2.6 per cent on Sunday, even as overall hospitalizations and deaths remain down.
Gov Abbott's decision to vaccinate residents 16 or older makes Texas the most populous state to expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all adults.
'We are closing in on 10 million doses administered in Texas, and we want to keep up the momentum as the vaccine supply increases,' said Imelda Garcia, chairwoman of the state's Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel.
For the past two weeks, Texas has been the nation's largest state with no coronavirus restrictions after Abbott repealed a mask mandate that has divided businesses and lifted limits on restaurant and retail occupancy.
Hospitalizations in Texas have plummeted to their lowest levels since October, but local health officials say they are again watching the numbers closely after spring break last week.
Texas reported more than 4,200 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, but the rolling average number of daily new cases has decreased by almost 2,200 over the past two weeks, a 36 per cent drop, according to Johns Hopkins University.
In Georgia (pictured) Gov Brian Kemp said that starting this Thursday 'all adults in Georgia over the age of 16 will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine'
Texas has one of the nation's slowest vaccination rates. Roughly 10 per cent of the state's population had been fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, and about 22 per cent had received at least one dose, according the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
State officials have blamed the numbers on February's blackouts from a deadly winter storm and claimed that federal officials have used outdated Census data to determine Texas' shipment of doses.
President Joe Biden earlier this month used his first prime-time address to pledge that all adults in the US would be eligible for the vaccine starting May 1.
The virus has killed more than 47,000 people in Texas, the third-highest toll in the nation.
As of Tuesday, the US has recorded 29,920,378 cases and 543,793 deaths.
Dr Rochelle Walensky, the head of the CDC warned on Monday about the growing threat from variants.
California's homegrown coronavirus variant is now dominant there.
Rates of the UK's potentially deadlier 'super-COVID' variant have tripled in Ohio in two weeks while rising to eight and nine per cent in Florida and New Jersey, respectively.
In a press briefing on Monday, Walensky said steps must be taken in light of variants until more people can get vaccinated.
'I get it. We all want to return to our everyday activities and spend time with our family, friends and loved ones. But we must find the fortitude to hang in there for just a little bit longer,' she said.
'We must act now and I am worried that if we don't take the right actions now, we will have another avoidable surge.'
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