By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS Associated Press, and staff
COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio could see its first batch of up to 30,000 doses of a coronavirus vaccine by Dec. 15, with fresh supplies arriving every few days, Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday, citing calls his office had with the White House.
The first batch would come from a Pfizer-produced vaccine, followed by one developed by drug maker Moderna, the governor said.
“We’re told once it starts coming, they hope it to be a continuous flow,” DeWine said.
The Republican governor called the announcement good news even as COVID-19 cases skyrocket in Ohio along with a record number of hospitalizations.
The state’s distribution plan is expected to put a high priority on first responders such as health care workers, nursing home residents, people considered at high-risk for the coronavirus because of medical problems, teachers and school staff members, and others.
The state will follow distribution guidelines set forth by the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, the Ohio Department of Health’s chief medical officer.
“We are looking at getting vaccine first to those who are at the greatest risk, and the health care providers who work with them, and then it will cascade from there,” Vanderhoff said.
The state’s preference is to provide the first vaccine batches to local health departments for initial distribution, according to a draft plan of Ohio’s vaccination plan released last month.
Montgomery, Lake and Lorain counties moved to the highest risk level — purple or level 4 — of the state public health advisory system (above). Franklin County remains at the highest risk level for the second week.
DeWine and health experts continued to urge Ohioans to limit Thanksgiving gatherings. The governor also asked schools moving forward with winter sports to do so without fans.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association tweeted Tuesday it was alerting schools to DeWine’s request while noting parents would still be allowed to attend contests.
Nearly 4,500 people are currently in the hospital with COVID-19 symptoms, including more than 1,000 in intensive care units and more than 570 on ventilators, according to state Health Department data.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Ohio has risen over the past two weeks from 4,724 on Nov. 9 to 8,277 on Nov. 23, according to an Associated Press analysis of data provided by The COVID Tracking Project.
Ohio reported 10,835 new daily cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, a figure possibly inflated due to an influx of data delayed by backups in laboratory reporting and collection by the state health department.
The total number of Ohioans diagnosed with the disease since the pandemic began was 382,743 with 6,274 deaths and 25,486 hospitalizations. There were 134,323 active cases and 4,541 patients in hospitals Wednesday, occupying 16.6% of the state’s inpatient capacity.
The state’s 13.5% positivity rate is close to those in states where Ohioans are warned not to travel unless they quarantine for 14 days when they return, DeWine said.
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DeWine on Tuesday has signed a bill extending the expiration date of driver licenses, identification cards and vehicle registrations to help motorists and others who found it difficult to renew those documents because of coronavirus shutdowns.
Any license, ID card or registration that expired, or will expire, between March 9, 2020, April 1, 2021, has been automatically extended and will remain valid until July 1 under the legislation.