Ohio Releases COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Plan
COLUMBUS, OH —Everyone in Ohio who wants to take the COVID-19 vaccine will be able to get it. But they cannot all receive the vaccine today, Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday.
"It will be months before everyone can receive the vaccine," he said during a news conference. He said his administration will issue vaccines to the most-vulnerable Ohioans in an attempt to save the most lives possible.
The state is currently in Phase 1-A of its vaccine distribution plan, which will see front line health care workers and congregate care communities get the vaccines.
DeWine said Ohio is seeing its highest COVID-19 death totals in nursing homes and other congregate care settings, which prompted the state to vaccinate those residents first.
Who's Next?
Ohioans who are 65 and older, who comprise more than 85 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Ohio, will receive the vaccine next. There are approximately 1.8 million Ohioans who are 65 or older.
The governor said the state is still hammering out the logistics on how to distribute the vaccine to that age group.
Along with Ohioans 65 and older, individuals who are high-risk if they contract COVID, regardless of age, will also receive the vaccine. The governor specifically said Ohioans with Down Syndrome or Sickle Cell will qualify to receive the vaccine.
Finally, during that phase, school staffers will receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
"It's time to get all of our children, who want to be in class, back in class," DeWine said. "These kids are our future. These kids have really been hurt, in some cases, by not being in school."
The goal is to begin vaccinating school staffers by mid-January. DeWine hopes this would allow schools to begin in-person education by March 1.
This article originally appeared on the Across Ohio Patch
