Health Department preps for new eligibility

Ohio Governor Mike Dewine recently announced those people 40 and older would be eligible Friday to be vaccinated, and those 16 and older are eligible after March 29.

“It’s great that we are opening up further in eligibility,” Auglaize County Health Commissioner Oliver Fisher said, adding his office still receives a lot of calls for scheduling vaccines, although those calls have been more spread out.

He said those in the older age group are still trickling in along with those who are freshly eligible. As far as prioritization goes, he said once people are eligible for the vaccine they are on an equal playing field.

When clinics are booked, the health department has been referring people to other providers such as Joint Township District Memorial Hospital. Fisher is encouraging patience; he said they are in the process of enrolling in an online scheduling system through the state. It is too early to say what eligibility will mean for vaccine supplies.

“At the same time, we are not really seeing a huge influx of vaccine either,” Fisher said. “It’s difficult to say with the higher demand with more eligible people if we are going to have that high demand again where it’s going to be a scarcity to find an open appointment. The governor said that that is supposed to be increasing, but we haven’t

seen that too much on the local level just yet.”

Fisher said their hope is that as vaccine production increases other enrolled providers will start receiving the vaccine.

“In the state of Ohio, I think there are close to 3,000 enrolled providers that have been approved by the state, and only about 1,000 are receiving state allotments,” Fisher said.

With more providers offering the vaccine there would be more choice for vaccination scheduling.