Vaccines opening for 16+ on March 29

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Governor Mike DeWine provided the following updates this week on Ohio’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Expanded Vaccine Eligibility

In Cleveland on Tuesday, Gov. DeWine announced expanded vaccine eligibility in Ohio beginning on March 19 for Phases 1E and 2C.

Phase 1E includes those with cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, and obesity. Phase 2C extends eligibility to Ohioans who are 40 and older. Between these two eligible groups, 1.6 million more Ohioans will have access to the vaccine.

Beginning on March 29, eligibility will be expanded to all Ohioans ages 16 and older. FDA emergency use authorization only allows those ages 16 and 17 to receive the Pfizer vaccine.

The state of Ohio is also offering two pop-up mass vaccination clinics in Columbus and Cincinnati beginning on March 18, and 15 long-term mass vaccination clinics will open regionally across Ohio in coming weeks.

In Preble County, there are four current vaccination sites:

The Gym at Eagles Point, 307 N. Cherry St., Eaton. 937-472-0087 or visit https://rb.gy/kfi1qp.

Walgreens, 1213 N. Barron St., Eaton. 937-456-2694 or https://rb.gy/3ui9ab.

CVS Pharmacy 6145, 1300 N. Barron St., Eaton. 888-300-4419 or https://rb.gy/vv4wof.

Camden Village Pharmacy, 75 W. Central Ave., Camden. 937-453-1263 or https://rb.gy/zlpi3j.

7,488 total doses of the COVID-19 vaccine (3,757 Moderna, 3,424 Pfizer and 307 Johnson & Johnson) have been distributed in the county.

For more information about Ohio’s vaccination plan, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov/vaccine.

Nursing Home Update

This week, Ohio’s long-term care facilities reported just 70 new COVID-19 cases, compared to 157 new cases reported the previous week and 2,832 new cases reported at the peak of the pandemic in December.

“In addition to wearing masks, social distancing, and cleaning, there is no doubt of the significant impact vaccination is having on protecting nursing home residents and preventing severe illness and death among those most targeted by the virus,” Gov. DeWine said.

A total of 93 percent of Ohio’s nursing homes and 77 percent of assisted living facilities have signed up to get additional vaccine for new staff and new residents through Ohio’s COVID-19 Vaccine Maintenance Program.

Gov. DeWine urged the 243 facilities in Ohio that have not requested additional vaccine for new staff and residents to alert the state to its process to offer the vaccine by filling out the survey at aging.ohio.gov/COVIDvaccine.

Updated Sports Guidance

Gov. DeWine announced Monday that Ohio Department of Health Director Stephanie McCloud has issued an addendum that updates quarantine guidance for student athletes and participants in extracurricular activities who may have been incidentally exposed to COVID-19 in a classroom setting.

The Addendum to Director’s Second Amended Order that Provides Mandatory Requirements for Youth, Collegiate, Amateur, Club and Professional Sports and Extracurricular Activities is in effect now. For spring sports and extracurricular activities, students will not be required to quarantine because they have an incidental exposure to COVID-19 in a classroom under the school-based exposure guidance unless symptoms develop. Students will now be permitted to participate in organized sporting and extracurricular activities as long as they remain symptom-free and follow applicable safety precautions.

However, students who are exposed in other settings outside of the classroom will be required to continue following existing CDC quarantine guidance.

Ohio Public Health Advisory System

New health data compiled by the Ohio Department of Health shows declining rates of COVID-19 exposure and spread in ten counties.

Dropping from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2: Ashtabula, Carroll, Fayette, Jackson, Morrow, and Tuscarawas.

Dropping from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 1: Auglaize, Mercer, Shelby, and Vinton.

Current Case Data

As of Thursday, March 18, there are 995,785 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 reported in Ohio and 17,992 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths. A total of 51,993 people have been hospitalized throughout the pandemic, including 7,312 admissions to intensive care units. Ohio currently stands at 143.8 cases per 100,000 residents. In-depth data can be accessed by visiting coronavirus.ohio.gov.

R-H Staff

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