COLUMBUS – Ohio health officials battling the COVID-19 pandemic got an early Christmas present: News that the next shipment of vaccines would be larger than expected.
Nearly 90,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine were scheduled to arrive Thursday, Christmas Eve, a few days after the state learned that the shipment would be almost 20,000 less than that, spokeswoman Melanie Amato said.
The Pfizer allotment of 89,700 doses was an increase of 19,500 over what was previously expected after the federal government announced that Ohio’s next allotment would be about 50,000 doses short of the 123,000 promised, a development Gov. Mike DeWine blamed on a miscalculation in Washington.
An additional 69,700 doses of the Moderna vaccine will also arrive later this week and will be distributed to hospitals that have not received vaccinations from the first allocation.
Ohio will also activate the second phase of the Pharmacy Long-Term Care Partnership program which will allow vaccines to be distributed to assisted living facilities, residential care facilities, care facilities for individuals with developmental disabilities, and continuing care retirement communities, Amato said.
Columbus Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts gave a vaccine to the first agency worker Tuesday as Columbus Public Health begins to distribute the vaccine, beginning with those who are most at risk for COVID-19 complications and those working on the front lines during the pandemic.
Those people in what the state has designated “1A” on its priority list (see illustration above) for vaccines include health care providers and personnel who are routinely involved with the care of COVID-19 patients, EMS responders; residents and staff at nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, psychiatric hospitals and Ohio veterans’ homes.
The highest priority group also includes people with intellectual disabilities and those with mental illness who are in group homes or centers and staff at those facilities.
As of Tuesday, the state had vaccinated 8,453 people.
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There were 637,032 total cases of COVID-19 in Ohio since the beginning of the pandemic, with the state reporting 7,678 new cases on Tuesday, less than the three-week average of 9,854 new cases per day.
An additional 13 deaths were reported, raising the toll to 8,252.
There were also another 546 hospital admissions, with 4,829 patients currently hospitalized, occupying 17.4% of the state’s inpatient capacity.
The seven-day rate of positive COVID-19 tests fell to 13.8%.