The Highland County Health Department announced Wednesday a new online COVID-19 scheduling tool for Highland County residents. They can register for a vaccine appointment directly at https://highlandcovidvax.timetap.com. The link can also be found at the health Department’s website.
“This is a new tool for us, so please excuse any rough edges,” Highland County Health Commissioner Jared Warner said in a news release. “Early on, with only 100 vaccine spots to fill and several thousand interested people, it was easier to connect people to vaccines. With more vaccine providers in the area, larger eligibility groups, and with new groups that are generally more comfortable with online scheduling, it was time to make this addition.”
The department also said it has around 200 spots available for vaccinations on Thursday, March 11. For those that cannot register online, call 1-866-395-1588 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Monday through Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.
According to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), which last updated its county rankings on March 3 for the time frame of Feb. 17 to March 2, Highland County had the 21st most COVID-19 cases among the state’s 88 counties per 100,000 residents at 201.6. It had 87 cases in that time frame.
According to a new update on March 8 from Warner, the county is now at 155.23 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. Warner said the county is averaging about three to four new cases each day.
According to ODH’s COVID-19 Dashboard, updated Wednesday, Highland County has had 3,306 total cases, 175 hospitalizations, 51 deaths and 3,128 presumed recovered from the virus.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) released new guidelines for people that have been fully vaccinated. The CDC states that someone that has been fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose in a two-dose series, such as the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, or two weeks after a single dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine.
After becoming fully vaccinated, some procedures have changed. These people can now gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people without masks. They can also gather indoors with unvaccinated people from one different household without needing to wear masks unless any of the people or anyone they live with has an increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19. The other change is if the fully vaccinated person is around someone with COVID-19, they don’t have to stay away from other people or get tested unless they show symptoms of the virus.
“However, if you live in a group setting (like a correctional or detention facility or group home) and are around someone who has COVID-19, you should still stay away from others for 14 days and get tested, even if you don’t have symptoms,” the CDC said immediately after the last change.
Warner said vaccine demand for those in the eligible age groups “seemed to have really slowed over the last week” and multiple vaccine providers and health departments are still trying to fill appointments. Gov. Mike DeWine recently opened vaccine eligibility to anyone age 50 and older, those with type 2 diabetes and people with end-stage renal disease. Warner said he sees vaccine eligibility continuing to open.
Also, according to ODH’s COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard, 6.59 percent of the population in Highland County has completed its vaccinations.
Following is a breakdown by age groups of completed vaccinations by age group in Highland County:
* 0-19 — Eight people (0.07 percent) have completed their vaccines.
* 20-29 — 108 people, (2.19 percent) have completed their vaccines.
* 30-39 — 176 people (3.65 percent) have completed their vaccines.
* 40-49 — 244 people (4.63 percent) have completed their vaccines.
* 50-59 — 312 people (5.39 percent) have completed their vaccines.
* 60-64 — 188 people (6.17 percent) have completed their vaccines.
* 65-69 — 152 people (5.87 percent) have completed their vaccines.
* 70-74 — 394 people (18.46 percent) have completed their vaccines.
* 75-79 — 439 people (29.23 percent) have completed their vaccines.
* 80 and over — 823 people (42.36 percent) have completed their vaccines.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
