Most US states have announced plans to open up coronavirus vaccinations to everyone eligible under US Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization.
According to an official Twitter post from the White House’s COVID-19 Response Team, four states have not yet announced plans to start vaccinating everyone 16 and older by May 1:
- Arkansas
- New York
- Wyoming
- South Carolina
But a spokesperson for the Wyoming Department of Health told CNN on Friday that “we expect to open to the general population in early to mid April.” And South Carolina announced today that residents ages 16 and up will be eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine starting March 31.
Based on CNN’s analysis, only two states remain that have not yet shared when they plan to vaccinate everyone 16 and older:
In Arkansas, no announcement of plans has been made yet, but Meg Mirivel, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Health, told CNN in an email on Friday that “we do anticipate meeting the May 1 benchmark.”
In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a briefing on Wednesday that he’s waiting to confirm how many doses of vaccine will be allocated before setting a date to expand eligibility.
“I’d rather get the specific allocation number and then tell the people of the state so we don’t have to change advice, and we don’t create pandemonium for the scheduling operation,” Cuomo said.
Six states have expanded coronavirus vaccine eligibility to anyone 16 and older, and a CNN analysis finds that at least 30 more plan to open up to people 16 and older by the end of April.
Alaska opened up vaccinations to anyone 16 and older on March 9, Mississippi on March 16, West Virginia expanded on March 22, Utah on March 24, Georgia on March 25, and Arizona opened vaccination to anyone over 16 who can get to state-run sites in three counties as of March 24. Oklahomans 16 and older can get vaccinated through the Chickasaw Nation’s vaccination program, but not yet through the state’s program.
As of Friday morning, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Florida and North Carolina were the latest states to announce plans to expand coronavirus vaccine eligibility to the general public, with Florida expanding to anyone 16 and older in April and North Carolina expanding to all adults 18 and older in April. New Hampshire announced incremental expansion, with everyone 16 and older eligible as of April 2, and Minnesota said Gov. Tim Walz would announce eligibility on Friday for those 16 and older starting March 30.
Below is the timeline for when those and other states have said they will open vaccination eligibility to the general public:
- March 29: Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio, North Dakota, Louisiana
- March 30: Minnesota
- March 31: Indiana, South Carolina
- April 1: Montana, Connecticut
- April 2: New Hampshire
- April 5: Michigan, Tennessee, Idaho, Iowa, Florida, Nevada
- April 7: North Carolina
- April 9: Missouri
- April 12: Illinois, Kentucky
- April 15: California
- April 19: Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island
- April 27: Maryland
- April, no set date: New Mexico, Virginia, Colorado, Wyoming
- May 1: Wisconsin, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Nebraska, New Jersey, Kansas, Hawaii, Delaware, Alabama, Pennsylvania
For all states currently vaccinating anyone 16 and older, people ages 16 or 17 can only receive a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as it is the only option authorized for use in that population so far. The vaccines made by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are authorized for use in adults 18 and older.
Update: This post has been updated with South Carolina’s announcement that residents ages 16 and older will be eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine starting March 31.
Correction: A previous version of this post misstated when New Jersey will open vaccination eligibility to the general public. It is May 1.