Ohio expects 25% increase in doses as eligibility expands
Ohio expects at least a 25% increase in vaccination doses beginning the week of March 29 to help meet demand as COVID-19 shots become available to all Ohioans age 16 and older, Gov. Mike Dewine said Thursday.
Not everyone, the governor said, will be able to get a shot immediately, even with an additional 100,000 shots atop the typical 400,000 the state has been receiving each week recently.
With 55% of the near-4.4 million Ohioans age 50 and older yet to receive a shot as appointments remaining elusive for some, Dewine on Monday unveiled a dramatic expansion of eligibility for the state’s approximate 400,000 doses a week.
Dewine announced that 1.5 million Ohioans ages 40 to 49 could receive shots beginning Friday, with all residents age 16 and older, another 3.6 million people, eligible for vaccinations beginning March 29.
Another 250,000 residents age 16 and older with cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease and obesity also are eligible for vaccinations starting Friday.
Dewine acknowledged Thursday that some Ohioans still have not been able to land vaccination appointments but said an increasing number of providers beyond the current 1,300 and more mass-vaccination sites will help. The pace of vaccinations among older Ohioans has slowed as more shots get into arms, he said.
“We do not want vaccines sitting on the shelf,” the governor said, adding the “uptake” of doses has been uneven in some areas, with rural Ohioans not booking shots as quickly as urban and suburban residents.
Dewine expects “a big dash and then it will level out some,” making appointments more readily available.
Dewine who conducted his briefing from the vaccination site at the Cintas Center on the Xavier University campus in Cincinnati, said while confident of the 100,000 increase in doses, any estimates on future increases would be “guesses.”
The governor, meanwhile, continued to encourage Ohioans to continue to seek vaccinations, wear masks and practice social distancing to avoid an uptick in cases as the pandemic has wound down from its December peak.
“We frankly are in a race and we don’t know exactly what the enemy is doing,” Dewine said, adding state officials believe more-contagious COVID-19 variants are increasing across the state.
Dewine previously announced a benchmark of dropping the mask mandate and public health orders once virus cases reach 50 or less per 100,000 population over two weeks. Ohio’s latest case rate on Thursday was 143.8 cases per 100,000.
Dewine again said he could not tell when cases will reach the level when restrictions can be lifted. “You never know what it is going to do next,” he said of coronavirus
The number stood at 155 last week after once exceeding 700 cases per 100,000 population during the pandemic peak. Fourteen counties were downgraded one notch in the state’s color-coded virus risk rating map.
After another 72,319 shots were reported on Thursday, Ohio surpassed 2.5 million vaccinations started, representing 22% of the state’s population. A total of nearly 2.6 million, or 13% of population, have received their final doses.
Vaccination appointments can be arranged online at the state website – gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov – or by calling local health departments or the state’s hotline at 833-427-5634.
The Ohio Department of Health reported 2,104 new infections on Thursday – about 500 above the three-week daily average and the most in more than two weeks – as the number stricken by COVID-19 nears 1 million – about 1 in every 12 Ohioans.
With the change in reporting, no new virus fatalities were recorded, with the toll among Ohioans remaining at 17,992 — 93% of which were age 60 or older.
A total of 859 virus patients were reported hospitalized on Thursday. COVID-19 hospitalizations peaked in-mid December at more than 5,300 patients. rludlow@dispatch.com @Randyludlow