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BATON ROUGE, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — Over 1,500 Louisiana providers will offer COVID vaccine to residents around the state during the week of April 26.

According to the Louisiana Department of Health, these providers include national and independent pharmacies, public health providers, clinics and physician offices, hospitals and others.

LDH has published the list of participating providers, along with their locations and contact information, on its website: covidvaccine.la.gov. In addition to these providers, community vaccination events are taking place across the state and are also listed on LDH’s website.

Residents requiring assistance can call the Bring Back Louisiana COVID-19 vaccine hotline at (855) 453-0774 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. The hotline will help residents schedule vaccine appointments, find vaccine providers in their area and connect people with medical professionals who can answer vaccine-related questions.

Those with general COVID-19 questions should dial 211 for assistance.

All Louisiana residents ages 16 and older are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Participating providers must give available vaccine doses to anyone who is eligible. Failure to do so will affect whether the provider receives future allocations of the vaccine.

Eligible residents must contact a participating provider to make an appointment. Patients who arrive without an appointment will not be vaccinated. LDH cannot make appointments for patients; only providers can.

Second doses

Patients receiving Moderna or Pfizer vaccines will receive their second dose of the COVID vaccine at the same location they received their first dose.

Second-dose appointments should be made during the administration of the first dose. If patients missed their second dose vaccination appointment they should immediately contact the provider of their first dose to schedule a new appointment.

If you have received the Moderna vaccine, ideally your second shot should be given 28 days after your first one. If you get the Pfizer vaccine, the second dose should be given 21 days after the first.

According to the CDC, you can safely receive the second dose up to 42 days and likely longer after the first dose if need be.

LDH is resuming use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, following a decision late Friday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Following a thorough safety review, including two meetings of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the FDA and CDC have determined that the recommended temporary pause of the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the U.S. should be lifted and use of the vaccine should resume.

LDH has notified all providers that they may resume administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine immediately and encourages all Louisianans to take advantage of the available vaccines so the state can continue to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The pause was recommended after reports of six cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals following administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The Louisiana Department of Health is coordinating the COVID-19 vaccine distribution effort in Louisiana. As more vaccines become available from the CDC, more individuals and groups will be offered a vaccination.