Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday that when Ohio gets to 50 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents for two straight weeks, all the health orders in the state will be removed.
“Our path back is by each of us getting vaccinated when we can, and by each of us wearing masks in public,” DeWine said in a tweet. “While no one will be forced to take the vaccine, the more of us who are vaccinated, the more complete our victory, and the more confidently we can put this behind us.”
DeWine also announced in a news release that 11 long-term mass vaccination clinics and four mobile mass vaccination clinics will open throughout the state to help expand regional access to the COVID-19 vaccine.
One site will in Wilmington and another in Chillicothe. Other sites on shown in a graphic accompanying this story.
“Mass vaccination clinics have always been part of our plan, but adequate supply is necessary for larger sites, so it was crucial that we first established local provider sites in all 88 counties to ensure that every citizen in every community has a provider nearby,” DeWine said. “Now that we have more than 1,250 local vaccine providers and a significant increase in vaccine supply expected at the end of March, this is the right time to finalize and prepare to launch these large-scale regional clinics.”
The regional mass vaccination clinics will open in the “coming weeks” as vaccine supply becomes available and will remain open until they are not needed. They will be operated locally with support from the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) and Ohio Emergency Management Agency. The clinics will have around 300 to 3,000 vaccines per day, depending on the location, vaccine supply and demand. Anyone in Ohio eligible to receive the vaccine can be vaccinated at any of the mass vaccination clinics.
“Ohio will also work closely with the clinics to ensure equitable access for high-risk residents and medically underserved communities that could be disproportionately impacted by the virus,” DeWine said.
Highland County is still listed as “Red,” or in a Level 3 Public Emergency, meaning there is “very high exposure and spread” in the county and people should limit their activities as much as possible. Ohio has seen its first Yellow county in months happen in Holmes County, which is now a Level 1 Public Emergency, which stands for “active exposure and spread.”
The ODH said Highland County has had 3,286 Covid cases total, 174 hospitalizations, 49 deaths and 3,095 presumed recovered from the virus.
According to ODH’s COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard, 5.57 percent of the Highland County population has completed its vaccinations, which is when someone “has received all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses and is considered fully immunized.”
The ODH documents how each school in each county is doing related to COVID-19. Its last update for Highland County said:
* Bright Local has had no new student or staff cases.
* Fairfield Local has had no new student or staff cases.
* Greenfield Exempted Village has had one new student case and one new staff case.
* Highland County Board of DD has had no new student or staff cases.
* Neither the Hillsboro Christian Academy Preschool or Private School have had any student or staff cases.
* Hillsboro City had one new student case and two new staff cases.
* Lynchburg-Clay Local had no new student or staff cases.
* Neither St. Mary Catholic Preschool or Private School have had new student or staff cases.
* Stonewall Academy has not had any new student or staff cases.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
