Age 80 and older can receive vaccine on Jan. 19; school personnel set for Feb. 1

COLUMBUS — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine gave the state an update on how the COVID-19 vaccine will be administered to the state in coming weeks

DeWine spoke about Phase 1B of the vaccination plan at his news conference on the pandemic on Thursday.

DeWine said vaccinations will be available to those who are 80 years of age and older on Jan. 19.

“Those 80 and older, outside of long-term care, constitute up to 420,000 people,” he said. “We expect to receive 100,000 doses that first week.”

DeWine said those vaccines would be received from physicians, local health departments, hospitals, federally-qualified health centers and in-home health service providers, as well as some retail pharmacies.

“The Department of Health has approximately 1,700 providers already registered to distribute vaccinations and will add more,” DeWine said. “This coming Monday, we will hold a webinar for registered providers that outline our expectations and instructions for distribution.”

The governor said on Tuesday, those who have been selected to deliver vaccinations the first week will be notified and will receive information about their allocation.

“There are more providers registered than will initially receive vaccinations, but we will add providers as more vaccine becomes available,” DeWine said.

He said they are asking, on Wednesday and Thursday, for local Emergency Management Agencies to hold a press conference announcing where vaccinations will be available in their counties and how individuals can receive them.

“Some providers may require appointments, some may hold drive-up clinics, or take walk-ins, but we expect every provider to clearly state how they will administer vaccinations to eligible individuals,” DeWine said.

The governor said on Thursday, the state will launch an online tool on http://coronavirus.ohio.gov where individuals will be able to see who is distributing vaccinations in their counties to what eligible group. Again, as more vaccinations are available, more providers will be added.

“Vaccines from the manufacturer are usually delivered on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of each week,” DeWine said. “We anticipate those providers that receive their vaccines on Monday, Jan. 18 will start distributing on Tuesday. Those that received them on Tuesday will begin to be distributed on Wednesday, and those received on Wednesday we anticipate will be administered beginning on Thursday.”

The governor said the state would begin vaccinating school personnel the week of Feb. 1.

“This week we are sending forms to be signed by superintendents,” he said. “We are asking them to agree to go back to full in-person or hybrid learning by March 1. That is a condition of getting the vaccine.”

He said they will be asking schools to send them the number of staff they believe will choose to take the vaccination and indicate if they are already working with partners for vaccine administration.