Vaccination site to get 5,000 doses a week

Ohio figures show new cases, key rate no longer falling.

A regional coronavirus mass vaccination site could open at the Dayton Convention Center by Wednesday with an expected 5,000 doses a week, Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday.

The opening day is dependent on when vaccine shipments arrive, the governor said.

As officials race to get more residents vaccinated, new coronavirus cases in Ohio have plateaued, DeWine said. So has the key case rate he has linked to ending several public health orders for Ohioans.

“We are seeing a plateau in cases,” DeWine said. “Cases were dropping and have leveled out.”

As of Thursday, 3,028,527 people in Ohio have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. More than 80,000 people received their first dose in the last 24 hours, DeWine said.

Dayton was one of 15 locations selected across the state to host regional mass vaccination sites.

AsOhio has continued to vaccinate residents, DeWine has repeatedly been asked when the state will get mass vaccination sites.

In addition to Dayton, other locations include Cincinnati, Columbus, Wilmington, Lima,

Chillicothe, Marietta, Zanesville, Youngstown and Maumee. Four mobile vaccina- tion sites are scheduled to operate in Ada, Athens, Steu- benville and Mansfield.

Appointments are scheduled to open Saturday, the governor said. People can sign up for an appointment at https://gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov/.

The sites are open to anyone in Ohio ages 16 and older. The official expan- sion to include anyone 16 and older begins Monday,

many counties began offering that group available appointments this week.

Most mass clinics will offer the Johnson & John- son vaccine, but some may also offer the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. Currently, Pfizer is the only vaccine in the U.S. authorized for ages 16 and older. Johnson & Johnson and Moderna are authorized for people ages 18 and older.

One reason for the expansion of clinics: Ohio is scheduled to receive its largest vaccine shipment so far next week, with 571,460 doses set to arrive, DeWine said.

Two pop-up vaccine sites opened in Columbus and Cincinnati last week. On St. Patrick’s Day, a FEMA-sup- ported mass vaccination site launched in Cleveland.

The regional mass vaccine clinics are part of DeW- ine’s race to get more shots in arms and avoid an uptick in cases seen in neighboring states, some of which has been linked to new vari- ants of the COVID-19 virus.

As coronavirus cases have plateaued in Ohio, so has the state’s cases per 100,000 people rate. The metric had a slight increase from 143.8 cases per 100,000 last week to 146.9 cases per 100,000 this week.

If the state can stay under 50 cases per 100,000 population, all public health orders will be lifted, DeW- ine has said.

On Thursday, Ohio reported 1,501 daily cases, according to the Ohio Department of Health. The number is in line with the state’s 21-day average of 1,509 cases a day.

Throughout the pan- demic, the state has recorded 1,006,171 total cases.