Ohio experiences hiccups as vaccinations expand to elderly

Jan. 20—COLUMBUS — Even as Ohio was seeing encouraging news when it comes to new coronavirus infections, hospitalizations, and deaths on Tuesday, the state experienced a few bumps on its path to greatly expanding who can get vaccines.

The state this week is making anyone 80 or older eligible for the limited supply of vaccines. But as this rolls out, Gov. Mike DeWine learned that about 155 of the roughly 750 hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and other providers initially set to administer vaccines would see a one-day delay in delivery of their Moderna supplies.

A distributor had failed to notify the state of the problem, leaving those providers to scramble to adjust their scheduling.

The state also learned that a stockpile of potentially hundreds of thousands of vaccines that it had been told had been held back by the Trump Administration specifically for Ohio to ensure second shots for those in nursing homes does not actually exist.

The governor had been excited last week to learn that the administration was going to release those supplies for immediate use instead of holding them back. Now no major surge in deliveries are expected beyond the roughly 100,000 doses that Mr. DeWine expects in each of the next few weeks.

"It would appear there's not any stockpile," Mr. DeWine said during his regular coronavirus briefing with reporters. "That's at least what our understanding is...We're trying to juggle a lot of things and do a lot of things with not enough vaccine."

Ohio continued to experience a lower-than-average number of new infections Tuesday with 4,989 reported in the previous 24 hours. That number is close to Monday's new case count, and again well below the average of 7,309 new daily cases registered over the previous 21 days.

"We're seeing fewer cases, but we don't yet know if this is a trend," Mr. DeWine said.

New deaths in the state totaled 55—down from the daily average of 77. There were 254 new hospitalizations, close to the three-week average of 284 a day. New admissions to intensive care totaled 20, compared with the three-week daily average of 28.

The state's vaccination program gained another 11,636 newly vaccinated people, bringing the total to 3.9 percent, or 456,131 in total.

The Pfizer vaccine is recommended for those 16 and older while the Moderna vaccine so far targets those 18 and older. They require two shots two weeks and three weeks apart, respectively.

In Lucas County, 4.42 percent have started the vaccination program, and in Wood County, 4.75 percent have started to receive the vaccine.

The state has reached a total of 836,055 cases and 10,336 deaths, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

The current list of local vaccine providers can be found at vaccine.coronavirus.ohio.gov.

The state will lower the age threshold to 75 and older the week of Jan. 25, to 70 on Feb. 3, and 65 on Feb. 8.

K-12 school employees will become eligible beginning Feb. 1 for districts committing to at least partial in-person instruction beginning on March 1. Schools will partner with retail pharmacies or local health departments to administer the vaccines so that these employees are not directly competing with the older age groups for appointments.

Also, those with severe congenital disorders that put them at particular risk to the effects of the virus will also become eligible the week of Jan. 25, starting first with those who also have intellectual and developmental disabilities. Local departments for the developmentally disabled will reach out to those who first become eligible.

The governor showcased some senior citizens 80 and older getting the vaccine, including Maria Andujar of Bowling Green.

Ms. Andujar, 84, received the vaccine in her home from Amy Jones, Wood County deputy health commissioner, part of the department's effort to take the vaccines directly to older Ohioans who may be homebound or have transportation issues.

When asked about the recent vaccination of about 30 Oregon Police officers, who are not among the state's priority groups. Mr. DeWine said he would not criticize the Toledo Clinic for doing so to prevent the potential wasting of scarce vaccines.

"We have very strict guidelines," he said. "We have made this very clear, but every once in a while I'll read something in the newspaper that somebody got it, and I kind of scratch my head and say how did that happen...," he said, noting the state's recommendations largely targets those most at risk of death from the virus.

"We've made it clear to all of the providers the last thing we want you to do is to waste any," he said. "So I'm not going to criticize a decision that was made by a health department...where they had extra doses and decided they would go to police officers."

But the priority for backups should remain those in the first groups targeted for vaccines such as nursing homes, those over 65, K-12 school employees, and front-line health-care workers.

Mr. DeWine also announced that he has appointed former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Judith French as director of the Ohio Department of Insurance. Justice French, who lost her re-election bid in November, had also been a contender for an open seat on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

Lucas County reported 775 new cases and 24 deaths over the three-day holiday weekend for new totals of 30,304 and 591, respectively. Wood County saw 245 new infections, for a total of 10,094, and two newly reported deaths since Friday, for a new total of 156.

First Published January 19, 2021, 1:59pm

___

(c)2021 The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)

Visit The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) at www.toledoblade.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.