Coronavirus: 12 additional states open up vaccine eligibility to those older than 16

On Monday, 12 more states opened up their vaccine programs to allow for those over the age of 16 to get a shot, meaning that 33 states have now broadened access to the COVID-19 vaccine.

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Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Michigan, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin are all dropping restrictions for adults 16 years or older.

By the end of the week, Delaware, New York, Maine, North Carolina and Missouri will open up vaccine eligibility to anyone aged 16 and older.

“This vaccine is our ticket back to normal life,” Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, said in a statement on her website. “We are so close to getting Covid-19 in the rearview, and until then, we should all keep wearing our masks, get vaccinated and use the common sense the good Lord gave us.”

On Monday, the CDC announced that 106,214,924 million Americans had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. More than 61,416,536 U.S. citizens have been fully vaccinated.

Despite the increase in the number of Americans being vaccinated, the CDC reported that the number of cases of confirmed COVID-19 infections has risen over the past two weeks.

Around 277 new coronavirus deaths and 36,670 new cases were reported in the United States on Sunday with an average of 64,019 cases per day last week. That is an increase of 18% from the average two weeks earlier, The New York Times reported.

Those numbers led Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, to say last week that she has a recurring sense of “impending doom” over the increase in cases. Walensky said that many spots in Europe are seeing a new surge in COVID-19 cases.

Walensky, along with Dr. Anthony Fauci, are urging Americans to get the vaccine as soon as they are eligible to help stave off new coronavirus variants that the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil have seen.

President Joe Biden has called on states to make vaccinations available to anyone over age 16 by May 1, with the hope that everyone can get a vaccination by the end of May.

Below are links to each state’s Department of Health, where you can find the latest information on vaccine eligibility for your state.