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Rebecca Meeker, a resident of Crown Pointe Care Center, left, receives a COVID-19 vaccine from Dr. Kate Latta, PharmD, in Columbus, Ohio.
AP
About 60 percent of Ohio nursing home workers have so far opted not to take the COVID-19 vaccine, as coronavirus-related deaths have increased in the state.
“We won’t do them, but we would like them to meet the requirements,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said of the residence’s staff at a press conference Wednesday, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
“Everyone makes their own choice, but we want to make it clear that the opportunity may not come back for a while,” the governor said.
The high number of nursing home workers who choose not to get the vaccine comes when the state experienced the deadliest month of the pandemic.
Ohio reported 2,426 deaths from COVID-19 in December, according to the report. Overall, since the start of the pandemic, more than 8,800 people in the state have died from the disease.