Early Friday morning, Mayor Andrew Ginther joined Gov. Mike DeWine at the Crown Pointe Care Center in Columbus to mark the expansion of Ohio’s vaccination efforts in long-term care facilities.
The first photo, taken around 7:30, came so fast that DeWine almost missed it while sitting outside, watching the live stream on a monitor. DeWine said he was unsure when vaccinations would be given to 350,000 residents and staff in long-term care units.
“We certainly hope to be by the end of January, but we really don’t know,” DeWine said. “We’ll have a much better idea, honestly, after the first week and we’ll see how fast this process goes.”
Nursing home residents and staff receive the vaccine through private pharmacies such as Walgreens and CVS under a federal CDC program.
Just as he celebrated the initiative, Ginther stressed the importance of continuing to wear masks, keep your distance and limit social interactions to reduce the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While the vaccine gives us long-term hope in our fight against COVID-19,” Ginther said, “we must do everything we can and take action to protect those close to us in our communities.”
Ginther said it was important to inoculate residents and nursing home staff because of the way the virus spread through the facilities.
“We all know that our long-term care facilities have been some of the hardest hit by this pandemic: 325 long-term care workers and residents right here in our community have lost their lives to the virus.” said Ginther.
In conclusion, DeWine expects the state to receive nearly 700,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year. DeWine said Ohio has not seen or been informed that smaller shipments will come, as reported by some states, but admits it is uncertain that they will receive those blows until they actually arrive.