COVID-19 Vaccines To Be Available To Ohioans 80+ Starting Jan. 19

COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio will begin vaccinating elderly members of the general public on Jan. 19.

For most hospitals, next week's vaccine shipment should complete coverage for first responders and frontline workers, Gov. Mike DeWine said. In some cases, some hospitals will have to continue vaccinating staff and first responders, particularly for people receiving booster shots.

Phase 1B of the vaccine distribution will begin Tuesday, Jan. 19, making vaccinations available to Ohioans 80 or older. DeWine said the state wants to protect the most vulnerable and that includes Ohioans who are most likely to die if they contract the virus.

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The vaccine will be available to the 420,000 Ohioans who are 80 or older. Vaccines will be available through physicians, local health departments, hospitals, federally-qualified health centers, in-home health service providers and some retail pharmacies.

With Ohio receiving approximately 100,000 COVID-19 vaccines per week, moving through Ohioans 80 and older will take some time, DeWine said.

Ohio will hold a webinar on Monday for qualified providers outlining instructions on vaccine distribution. Providers will then receive a notification telling them they will be distributing the vaccine.

Providers will then determine how to distribute the vaccines.

On Jan. 25, vaccines should become available to Ohioans 75 and older. Every week after that Ohio will make the vaccine available to a new age group of Ohioans, moving in five year increments until Ohioans 65 and older can receive the vaccine.

Also, during the week of Jan. 25, the vaccine will be made available to Ohioans with severe congenital, developmental, or early-onset medical disorders. The governor promised to soon release further details on how the vaccine will be distributed to those groups.

DeWine said school staffers will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine starting Feb. 1. However, there's a condition.

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

Thursday's COVID-19 numbers

Ohio confirmed more than 10,000 new COVID-19 cases for the first time in nearly three weeks.

In the past 24 hours, health officials confirmed 10,251 new COVID-19 cases among Ohioans. That's up versus the state's rolling average of approximately 7,500 COVID-19 cases per day.

Here are all of Thursday's COVID-19 numbers:

• New cases: 10,251
• New deaths: 94
• New hospitalizations: 365
• New ICU admissions: 27

The Ohio Department of Health estimates that 613,418 Ohioans have contracted COVID-19 and recovered from the virus.

More than 221,000 Ohioans have started the COVID-19 vaccination process, as of Wednesday afternoon. Vaccine distribution should begin for new groups of Ohioans in the next month or so, Gov. Mike DeWine indicated Tuesday.

More reading:

• COVID-19 Vaccines: 2.2 Million Ohioans To Get Shots In Next Phase
• U.K. Coronavirus Variant Will 'Undoubtedly Reach Ohio'
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