COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio fell short of President Joe Biden’s goal for a 70% vaccination rate among adults by the Fourth of July, with the federal government reporting a 59.4% vaccination rate for the state.
What You Need To Know
- Ohio fell short of Biden's 70% vaccination goal for the Fourth of July holiday
- The state ranks 35th in the U.S. for vaccinations among adults, according to the CDC
- Officials: New approaches needed to stop the immunization rate from slowing
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show 5,415,572 Ohio adults have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, as of the latest update Sunday.
To reach the 70% threshold after the target date, Ohio would still need to vaccinate 962,189 more adults. Even if Ohio could maintain its current pace of vaccination, that will not happen until December. The rate will likely continue to decline because fewer Ohioans who are open to getting the shot remain unvaccinated.
As of Sunday, 20 states were reporting vaccination rates above 70%, according to the federal tracker. Per CDC data, 67% of the U.S. adult population has gotten at least one vaccine dose.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that his administration’s push for all Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19 would continue, despite the country missing the president’s goal of 70% of U.S. adults with at least one dose of the vaccine by July 4.
Just before the holiday, Ohio was averaging 6,051 new vaccinations per day, according to Friday’s seven-day average.
The pace of vaccinations in Ohio is less than a tenth of the pace in late March and early April when the vaccine became widely available and the numbers peaked. However, Gov. Mike DeWine is optimistic the state can continue to vaccinate residents and continue to tamp down the pandemic. He is expected to announce incentives for vaccination in the coming weeks.
The governor indicated at the end of last week he planned to turn attention to the matter, according to NBC4.
“I’m going to spend the next few days, now that the budget’s out of the way, working with our team and trying to come up with what those incentives might be,” DeWine said.
Other incentive programs are rolling out at the local level. Columbus Public Health is offering $100 Visa cash cards to Franklin County residents getting their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at 10 new neighborhood satellite clinics.
DeWine has expressed interest in designing the state’s second vaccine incentive program to give smaller rewards but to a large number of people. It would be a change of approach from the million-dollar prizes and full-ride scholarships that were awarded to 10 winners from May 26 through June 23.
The state’s 59.4% vaccination rate ranks 35th among U.S. states.
With the exceptions of Illinois and Minnesota, the rest of the Midwest has fallen behind the national average and missed Biden’s goal.
- Illinois: 72.2%
- Minnesota: 70.2%
- Wisconsin: 65.7%
- Nebraska: 65.3%
- South Dakota: 64.3%
- Iowa: 64%
- Kansas: 62.4%
- Michigan: 62.6%
- Kentucky: 61.6%
- Ohio: 59.4%
- Indiana: 56.7%
- Missouri: 56%
- North Dakota: 55.8%
On Tuesday, Biden outlined the administration’s vision for key areas of focus in the vaccination effort this summer. The priorities include door-to-door outreach and mobile vaccination, making shots available at primary care and pediatricians’ offices and vaccinating workplaces.
All of these initiatives have been implemented in Ohio already, but access to such services is not yet universal.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The CDC calculates vaccination rates using 2019 U.S. Census Bureau population estimates, which put Ohio’s adult population at 9,111,081.