On Friday morning, Mayor Andrew Ginther joined Gov. Mike DeWine at Columbus ’Crown Pointe Care Center to mark the expansion of Ohio’s vaccination efforts into long-term care centers.
The first shot, administered around 7:30 a.m., came so quickly that DeWine nearly lost it as he stood outside watching the live stream from a monitor. DeWine said he is not sure when vaccinations will be made for 350,000 residents and long-term care facility staff.
“Sure, we’d expect it to be in late January, but we really don’t know,” DeWine said. “Frankly, we’ll have a much better idea after the first week and we’ll see how fast this process goes.”
Residents and nursing home staff receive the vaccine through private pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS under a federal CDC program.
While celebrating the initiative, Ginther stressed the importance of continuing to wear masks, keep your distance, and limit social interactions to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While the vaccine gives us long-term hopes in our battle against COVID-19,” Ginther said, “we must do everything we can and commit to protecting those closest to our communities.”
Ginther said it is important to inoculate residents and nursing home staff due to the spread of the virus on the premises.
“We all know that our long-term care facilities have been some of the hardest hit by this pandemic: 325 workers and residents in long-term care centers in our community have lost their lives to the virus,” said Ginther.
Still, DeWine expects the state to receive nearly 700,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year. DeWine said Ohio did not see or be informed that smaller shipments would arrive, as some states have reported, but admits it is uncertain that they will get those shots until they actually arrive.