COLUMBUS, Ohio — The state of Ohio is restructuring its COVID-19 vaccine distribution formula to better distribute shots where there is significant need, Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday.


What You Need To Know

  • Vaccine distribution will be targeted to areas where shots are most needed, officials said

  • Outbreak areas and counties with high demand will get more shots under the new plan
  • The change in distribution will take effect immediately, Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday

That means more doses are headed to areas where case numbers are high, as well as areas where demand for vaccines is the greatest. 

COVID-19 cases in Ohio have risen by 25% since a mid-March trough, and state officials said vaccines will now be more targeted to hotspot areas, including northern Ohio counties near the Michigan border experiencing a surge from variants, according to Ohio’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff. 

The state dropped vaccine eligibility requirements on Monday, and the governor said he expects that if Ohio hadn’t made a change to the distribution model, there would soon be areas of the state where there is more supply than demand.

“Now that we are totally wide open and anybody can get this, what we anticipate, in the not too distant future, is that we will really start seeing a slackening in certain areas,” DeWine said during his news conference Thursday. 

The state will continue to account for population and an equity index in the allocation model -- as it has in distributing doses for the first three and a half months of the roll out -- but now demand and the rate of spread are joining the equation.

COVID-19 cases are rising again in Ohio, even as more and more vaccines are administered. File: A nurse administers a COVID-19 test. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

The change goes into effect immediately and the first impacts will be seen with orders shipping from the federal government this weekend. Consistent with the new approach, Ohio announced another mass vaccination opening in Seneca County due to its proximity to communities with high rates of spread. 

Ohio will also vaccinate college students on campuses beginning next week in an effort to stop the rising cases before the trends lead to another surge, officials said. 

On April 12, Ohio will begin allowing vaccine providers to administer 25% of their doses on-site at workplaces in the county, DeWine also announced Thursday.

This governor said in addition to partnering with businesses, providers will be able to vaccinate their own employees, giving the example of a grocery store pharmacy immunizing the staff of the grocery store. After April 12, providers can run clinics on shop floors, at labor union facilities, and even churches. The state is calling the partnerships “closed pod” clinics.

“We've got a lot of requests for that to happen. We've held those back because we wanted to make sure there were enough vaccine out there for the general public, but we think that this is now the time starting on April 12, to be able to do that,” DeWine said. 

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said Thursday the news will help Ohio get back to work. Husted stressed that businesses are able to return to their offices now if they would like to make that move. 

“We want to clear up any confusion about that. There is no prohibition on returning to work in-person,” Husted said Thursday. 

Ohio reported 2,475 cases Thursday, bringing the seven-day average to 1,981, which is elevated again from a dip below 1,500 seven-day average cases in mid-March. 

The state plans to end all health orders when a metric for case occurrence drops below 50. That figure moved the wrong direction this week, with Ohio now reporting an average of 167.1 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, up from 146.9 one week ago. Also on Thursday, the state reported weekly COVID-19 cases for schools, adding 854 new student cases and 145 new staff cases.