Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said Ohio nursing homes will get early access to the new COVID-19 vaccine. “I’m pleased to announce that today the CDC has invited Ohio to participate in an early scaled launch of vaccinations in nursing homes. Ohio will begin vaccination in 5 to 10 nursing homes starting this Friday, December 18th.” DeWine said that participating nursing homes will be notified.
The governor, accompanied by First Lady Fran DeWine, was on the scene in Columbus as a UPS truck delivered the vaccine to OSU’s Wexner Medical Center. The DeWines watched via Skype as workers were vaccinated. DeWine called said, “Today is a very good day for Ohioans. Our healthcare workers have put all they have into caring for their fellow Ohioans who have been stricken with COVID-19. They have put their own health at risk to care for others, and today we start the process of vaccinating them against this terrible disease.”
Eight Hospitals Get Vaccine Tomorrow
Selected healthcare workers at OSU Wexner Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati Medical Center received vaccinations first. Tomorrow, the vaccine will be available to healthcare workers at these eight Ohio hospitals:
- Mercy Health St. Vincent Hospital in Lucas County
- Cleveland Clinic in Cuyahoga County
- Metro Health Medical Center in Cuyahoga County
- Mercy Health Springfield Regional Medical Center in Clark County;
- OhioHealth Riverside Hospital in Franklin County
- Aultman Hospital in Stark County
- OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital in Athens County
- Genesis Hospital in Muskingum County
The Governor announced a new Vaccine Dashboard on the state’s Cornoavirus website. The dashboard will keep Ohioans up-to-date on how many Ohioans have received the vaccine. The information should be available within the next few days.
The Ohio Department of Health reported 7,875 new cases in Ohio on Monday. There were 59 new deaths, 291 new hospitalizations, and 38 new ICU admissions reported during the past 24 hours.