COLUMBUS – Thousands more Ohioans will become eligible to begin receiving COVID-19 vaccinations Thursday as Gov. Mike DeWine has announced that those age 60 and over can begin signing up, along with workers in certain occupations and with some medical conditions.
During his Monday afternoon coronavirus pandemic briefing, DeWine announced that two new phases of the state’s vaccination program would begin, which will encompass people who work in the child care industries, law enforcement, corrections and funeral services, and people with some medical conditions.
Phase 2 of the program includes approximately 695,000 people age 60 and older.
Phase 1C includes approximately 246,000 eligible Ohioans with certain occupations and with certain medical conditions not addressed in previous phases.
They include those with Type I diabetes, bone marrow transplant recipients, and those with ALS, also Lou Gehrig’s Disease, as well as pregnant women, who are at higher risk of serious complications from the virus than people of the same age who are not pregnant, Ohio Department of Health medical director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said.
“If you’re pregnant and get sick with COVID-19, you’re a higher risk of being hospitalized in an intensive-care unit and of requiring the help of a breathing machine. in turn, that places you at higher risk of death. Research also suggests that having COVID-19 during pregnancy might increase the risk for premature delivery or premature birth for your baby,” Vanderhoff said.
Others who can begin signing up for vaccinations include approximately 76,000 police officers, sheriff’s deputies, Ohio State Highway Patrol Troopers and other state or federal enforcement officers, including Department of Natural Resource enforcement staff and state fire marshal investigators.
Also eligible are some 40,400 teachers, administrators and others working in child care and pre-kindergarten programs, and state and county licensing specialists.
Approximately 3,600 embalmers, morticians, funeral home directors, crematory operators, and apprentices are also eligible.
All three groups had been lobbying recently to receive vaccinations.
DeWine says the approval of a third coronavirus vaccine means the state will receive nearly 450,000 doses this week. The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday that the state will receive 96,100 doses of the new vaccine this week. He said that brings the total this week to 448,390 total doses including the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
The state had administered nearly 1.7 million initial doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines by Monday and 912,354 individuals, or 7.8% of the state’s population had received the second dose.
The state reported 1,452 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total number of Ohioans diagnosed with the disease to 968,874.
The 49 additional deaths raised the death toll in the state to 17,346.
There were 103 new hospital admissions, bringing the total number to 50,382.
While the increase was lower than the 21-day average, the 1,181 patients in hospitals statewide was higher than reported on Sunday, an unusual occurrence as hospital occupancy had been trending steadily downward over the past several weeks. COVID-19 patients occupied 4.2% of available beds.
There were 40,054 active cases, the smallest number in four months.