Over 3 million Ohioans have been vaccinated
More than 3 million Ohioans have obtained at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine as the state begins Monday to offer shots to everyone age 16 and older.
After 89,380 additional shots, state health officials reported Friday that a total of 3.1 million, or 26.7% of Ohio’s population, have received either the single-dose Johnson & Johnson or at first shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
A total of nearly 1.8 million, or 15.1% of population, have finished their second and final shots of the first two available vaccines.
With a record 571,000 doses in hand next week, vaccination opens to all Ohioans age 16 and older on Monday as the state plans to open 11 mass-vaccination clinics on Wednesday, including at the Celeste Center at the Ohio State Fairgrounds in Ohio.
Appointments for the clinics, and more than 1,300 vaccine providers, can be booked at the state’s website at g ettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov.
In a large jump, the state reported 2,742 new COVID-19 infections on Friday — nearly 1,200 above the threeweek daily average — to record the highest number in a month.
Case numbers generally had continued to plateau recently after steadily dropping for months. Ohio’s cumulative pandemic infections now total slightly more than 1 million.
The Ohio Department of Health, which now only reports death totals on Fridays and Mondays, recorded 144 additional COVID-19 deaths, raising the toll among Ohioans to 18,526.
With another 111 admissions, Ohio hospitals contain 944 virus patients. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have increased 3% over the past three weeks. rludlow@dispatch.com @Randyludlow