Drop in age eligibility began on Monday

Those above the age of 65 are now eligible to get a vaccine for COVID-19.

The rollout for the lower age group started on Monday, with vaccinations for those 70 and up starting last week, along with employees of the state’s K-12 schools and those with severe or congenital disorders. People 80 and up began on Jan. 19 as part of the state’s Phase 1B vaccination plan.

A line could be found at the South Point Board of Education on Monday, as health officials delivered a second dose of the Moderna vaccine to for people who had already received their initial vaccine.

Those in the earlier age groups may still be vaccinated once the next group begins.

People have multiple options to schedule a COVID-19 vaccination, which are being administered locally by the Lawrence County Health Department.

The first option is that Lawrence County residents can fill out an online form to be placed on the waiting list. Residents can find the online form at Lawcohd.org, Lawrencecounty.org or the Lawrence County Health Department Facebook page.

The second option is to call the health department’s vaccine hotline at 740-302-5124 or 740-302- 5689, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The third option is for people to email their name and phone number to covidvaccine@lawcohd.org. A Lawrence County Health Department representative will contact them for more information to add them to the waiting list.

To date, 65 people have died from the virus in Lawrence County and there have been 4,983 cases, with 4,390 presumed recovered. The number of hospitalizations for the virus from Lawrence Countians stood at 359 on Monday.

On Monday, the state reported 1,926 new cases of the virus, which was the second day in a row that there has been a record low for 2021 in daily numbers.
Hospitalization continue to remain under 2,500. Gov. Mike DeWine has said, if this trend continues, then the state’s daily curfew of 11 p.m. could be rolled back further.