Who Will Get Ohio's COVID-19 Vaccines First?

COLUMBUS, OH — Phase 1 of Ohio's COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan officially began this week.

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccines arrived at hospitals in Columbus and Cincinnati on Monday, before being sent to hospitals in Cleveland and around the state on Tuesday.

Gov. Mike DeWine believes Ohio will receive approximately 660,000 COVID-19 vaccines in December and another 660,000 vaccines in January. But who will be first in line to get vaccinated?

The state released the following list of groups that should be among the first Ohioans vaccinated against COVID-19:

• Home health workers
• Hospice workers
• Emergency medical services responders
• Primary care practitioners
• Free-standing emergency department, urgent care, pharmacy, and dialysis center providers not vaccinated by hospitals or healthcare systems
• Dental providers
• Public health employees who are at risk of exposure or transmission, such as vaccinators
• Mobile unit practitioners
• Federally-qualified health center providers
• High-risk ancillary health care staff members

While vaccinations begin in the Buckeye State, hospitalizations continue to hit near-record levels due to the virus. DeWine has been urging Ohioans to avoid large holiday gatherings and to continue following social distancing protocols.

"While there is good reason to be optimistic about Ohioans receiving the vaccine, we have our work cut out for us to slow the spread of the virus until enough Ohioans can be vaccinated," DeWine said. "We must continue rallying together to prevent overwhelming our hospitals."