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Indiana coronavirus updates for Wednesday, April 14, 2021

The latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic from Wednesday, April 14, 2021.

INDIANAPOLIS — Wednesday's latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic, including the latest news on COVID-19 vaccinations and testing in Indiana. Registrations for the vaccine are now open for select groups through Indiana State Department of Health. This story will be updated over the course of the day with more news on the COVID-19 pandemic.

RELATED: Here's everything we know about the COVID-19 vaccine

15,000+ vaccinated at Purdue clinic in first week

After being open for one week, Purdue University announced more than 15,000 people — nearly all of them students — have been vaccinated.

The clinic first opened April 6, and beginning Wednesday, April 14, it is open to walk-ups. Eligibility has also been expanded to include spouses and dependents affiliated with the West Lafayette campus and official Purdue retirees.

For more details on eligibility and how to get a vaccine at the site, which is open seven days a week, click here.

New COVID-19 vaccine clinic opens on Indy's east side

A new coronavirus vaccine clinic is open on the east side of Indianapolis and appointments are available as early as today.

The Marion County Health Department's new COVID-19 vaccine clinic aims to provide more access to vaccines for people who live on the east side. 

"Through efforts such as pop-up vaccine clinics held in neighborhoods across the city, $1 million in grants to uplift community-based initiatives, and the opening of this new clinic to serve the east side, we are continuing the work to make the COVID-19 accessible to all in our community," said Dr. Virginia Caine, director and chief medical officer of the health department.  

The health department expects to administer up to 800 doses of the Moderna vaccine per day at the clinic, which is located at 9503 East 33rd Street. 

The new east side clinic will be open during the following hours: 

  • Tuesdays: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 
  • Wednesdays and Thursdays: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. 
  • Fridays: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. 
  • Saturdays: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 
  • Sundays and Mondays: closed

 The department continues to encourage all residents 16 and older to visit ourshot.in.gov or call 211 to sign up for their COVID-19 vaccine appointment. 

BSU clinic extending hours

Ball State University extended the hours of its on-campus COVID-19 vaccination clinic. It also added a waitlist for people hoping to get the vaccine before their scheduled appointment.

The clinic is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday through May 21. It is located at the Health Professions Building’s Interprofessional Community Clinics on Riverside Avenue.

People can register to get the vaccine at the BSU clinic by going to ourshot.in.gov or by calling 211. Click here to put your name on the waiting list.

ISDH Update

The Indiana Department of Health announced Monday that 1,233 additional Hoosiers have been diagnosed with COVID-19. 

That brings the total to 701,971 Indiana residents now known to have had the novel coronavirus.

To date, 12,782 Hoosiers are confirmed to have died from COVID-19. 

As of Tuesday, a total of 3,519,666 vaccine doses have been administered in Indiana. This includes 36,010 first doses and 1,465,361 individuals who are fully vaccinated.

There are 31,818 more Hoosiers who are fully vaccinated in Indiana.

The fully vaccinated number represents individuals who have received a second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines and those who received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Hoosiers age 16 and older are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. To schedule an appointment, visit https://ourshot.in.gov or call 211 if you do not have access to a computer or require assistance.

Veterans should start getting $1,400 payments Wednesday

Stimulus checks for Veterans Affairs benefit recipients should start showing up in bank accounts Wednesday. 

The Internal Revenue Service said last week that it was reviewing files from the VA covering individuals who receive benefits but don't normally file a tax return. 

Assuming no issues popped up, the IRS said it would start processing the payments and that the majority of would be disbursed electronically and should be received on Wednesday. 

Those who want to see the status of their stimulus check can search using the Get My Payment tool, which the IRS said should have been updated for VA payments last weekend.

Pfizer to deliver more COVID vaccines than planned by May

On the same day the U.S. recommended a “pause” in the use of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots, Pfizer's CEO announced his company is increasing production of its own vaccine and deliver its promised amount ahead of schedule.

Albert Bourla tweeted that Pfizer "can deliver 10% more doses to the US by the end of May than previously agreed (total of 220M) & supply the full 300M agreed on for the end of July two weeks early."

President Joe Biden announced on Feb. 11 that the U.S. had secured contractual commitments from Moderna and Pfizer to deliver the 600 million doses of vaccine by the end of July. At the time, that was already more than a month earlier than initially anticipated.

ISDH working on disruptions from Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause

The Indiana State Department of Health is working to minimize scheduled vaccine appointments after the FDA and CDC ordered a pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after a handful of clotting issues. 

ISDH is encouraging vaccination sites to use whatever Pfizer and Moderna vaccine they have to fulfill Johnson & Johnson appointments.

The Moderna vaccine is already being used to swap out with the J&J vaccine at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway mass vaccination clinic this week. 

Anyone with a Johnson & Johnson appointment at another location in the next two days can call 211 to cancel their appointment and reschedule for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.

Latest US, world numbers

There have been more than 31.3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States as of 4 a.m. ET Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 563,000 deaths in the U.S.

Worldwide, there have been more than 137.4 million confirmed cases with more than 2.95 million deaths and 78.3 million recoveries.

RELATED: See where confirmed Indiana coronavirus cases are with this interactive map

RELATED: VERIFY: Are Indiana’s new COVID-19 case numbers inflated with multiple positive tests for the same person?

The actual number of people infected by the virus around the world is believed to be much higher — perhaps 10 times higher in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — given testing limitations and the many mild cases that have gone unreported or unrecognized.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness like pneumonia, or death.

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