Ohio experiences hiccups as vaccinations expand to elderly
Jan. 20—COLUMBUS — Even as
The state this week is making anyone 80 or older eligible for the limited supply of vaccines. But as this rolls out, Gov.
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
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
"It would appear there's not any stockpile,"
"We're seeing fewer cases, but we don't yet know if this is a trend,"
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
In
The state has reached a total of 836,055 cases and 10,336 deaths, according to the
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
K-12 school employees will become eligible beginning
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
The governor showcased some senior citizens 80 and older getting the vaccine, including
When asked about the recent vaccination of about 30
"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.
First Published
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