The Columbus Dispatch

Governor urges more COVID-19 vaccinatio­ns in Ohio

Dewine calls vaccines ‘ticket to freedom’ in plea

- Jessie Balmert

COLUMBUS – More than one-third of Ohioans have received their first COVID-19 shot, but the state has to keep going, Gov. Mike Dewine said.

“Our ticket to freedom is the vaccine,” Dewine said. “We know how to get out of this, and we have the tool to get out of it. We just have to use the tool.”

However, one of those tools isn’t at Ohio’s disposal for now. The Food and Drug Administra­tion and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommende­d a temporary “pause” Tuesday as officials investigat­e a potential link between severe blood clots and low levels of blood platelets. Six women have reported severe blood clots after getting the vaccine and one died; more than 6.8 million Americans have received the J&J vaccine.

On Wednesday, the Advisory Committee on Immunizati­on Practices met to review evidence but concluded that the group needed more time to review details. Ohio’s chief medical officer Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said the group is “taking the prudent course” to investigat­e the “very rare risk” of blood clots thoroughly.

Dewine said the pause might make some Ohioans more hesitant to get a COVID-19 vaccine, but he believed people would make “rational choices.” Ohio is also shipping more vaccines to primary care physicians because patients tend to trust them more.

In the meantime, Dewine has asked vaccine providers to hold onto their Johnson & Johnson shots, which can last up to three months refrigerat­ed. Mass vaccinatio­n clinics instead offered Pfizer-biontech or Moderna vaccines, which require two doses taken weeks apart.

The pause could hamper Ohio’s plan to vaccinate college students before they leave campus in May. The effort was dependent on one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccines to succeed. Many universiti­es and local health department­s have switched to offering another vaccine.

“There’s been a lot of shifting around in this past week,” Dewine said.

Ohio again moves in wrong direction to lift health orders

New COVID-19 cases are pushing Ohio further and further away from Dewine’s benchmark to lift health orders, such as the state’s mask mandate.

Dewine set a goal to lift health orders: 50 new cases per 100,000 over two weeks. But Ohio hit 200 cases per 100,000 this week, an increase from 183.7 last week. That increase is driven by new, more contagious variants, Vanderhoff said.

“When you take a virus that is more contagious and put it into a population – even though you may be doing a good job with things like masking and distancing – vaccinatio­n and the immunity of that population is ever more important,” Vanderhoff said. “Were it not for the level of vaccinatio­ns that we enjoy today, the variants at the level we’re seeing them across the country I think would be wreaking absolute havoc.”

If Ohio doesn’t hit Dewine’s mark by late June, state lawmakers could lift the health orders anyway, thanks to Senate Bill 22.

Ohio adds 2,164 new COVID-19 cases

Ohio Department of Health reported 2,164 new COVID-19 cases between Wednesday and Thursday.

Ohio has reported 1,048,109 infections since the beginning of the pandemic. Ohio hospitals reported 1,305 COVID-19 patients on Thursday.

About 36.4% of Ohioans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 24.4% of the population has been fully vaccinated.

Ohio vaccine providers are offering more options for obtaining a shot, including walk-in appointmen­ts and popup clinics at businesses and other organizati­ons.

Ohio has reported 154 cases of people contractin­g COVID-19 after receiving a vaccine. Of those, 14 were hospitaliz­ed. More than 2.8 million Ohioans have completed a one- or two-shot regimen.

 ?? DISPATCH BARBARA J. PERENIC/COLUMBUS ?? Gov. Mike Dewine and first lady Fran Dewine visit the Columbus vaccinatio­n clinic. Dewine's plan to vaccinate college students before they leave campus was hampered by a pause in Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
DISPATCH BARBARA J. PERENIC/COLUMBUS Gov. Mike Dewine and first lady Fran Dewine visit the Columbus vaccinatio­n clinic. Dewine's plan to vaccinate college students before they leave campus was hampered by a pause in Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

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