Who’s in the next COVID vaccine priority group in Louisiana?

Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration has quietly added new groups of people to the next phase of vaccine priority, giving clergy, veterinarians and the faculty and staff of colleges and universities priority for the shots.

The University of Louisiana System in an email to its faculty said the Louisiana Department of Health had added higher education faculty and staff members to the “Phase 1B Tier 2” of the vaccine rollout.

Currently, the state is in “Phase 1B Tier 1,” and it’s not clear when Edwards plans to move to the next tier.

The email cited an LDH memo dated Feb. 18 that made two changes not announced by Edwards last week, when he retooled the current group of eligible people to add K-12 teachers and others.

Here’s who is newly eligible as of Monday:

• Teachers and support staff working on-site in K-12 schools and daycares
• All pregnant persons
• Non-emergency medical transportation providers and staff
• Persons 55 - 64 with one or more health condition defined by the CDC
  • Cancer, chronic kidney disease, COPD, Down Syndrome, heart conditions, immunocompromised state from solid organ transplant, obesity, severe obesity, sickle cell disease, smoking, Type 2 diabetes mellitus

The memo said clergy and “institutes of higher education faculty and staff” were part of the next tier of eligible people. Veterinarians and staff were also added.

Read the full story at Nola.com