SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio — A change to how the COVID-19 vaccination clinic accepts those seeking the vaccine will be welcome news to those who have had a tough time scheduling an appointment.
Walk-ins will be welcome at the Summit County Fairgrounds Mass Vaccination Clinic on Friday, April 23 between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m., with the last appointment at 5:30 p.m. The fairgrounds are located at 1050 North Ave. in Tallmadge.
Appointments can still be made for the clinic through the state’s online scheduling tool, but are not necessary, public health officials say.
Appointments had been steadily filling for previous mass vaccination clinics but they slowed significantly after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was put on pause, said Summit County Public health spokeswoman Marlene Martin.
Following the announcement that Johnson & Johnson would be halted so researchers could look into potential side effects, the fairgrounds clinic was able to fill only 1,900 of its 2,500 available appointments, Martin said. That could mean the J&J announcement spooked people.
“We got the low hanging fruit, and now it’s going to be the people who either are on the fence or we have to really convince to get vaccinated,” she said.
Also possibly affecting vaccination rates is that many people preferred the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for its one-dose course of treatment, rather than the two doses necessary with Pfizer and Moderna, she said.
“I think some of those people maybe are waiting to see if we’re allowed to vaccinate again with J&J. I think some of those people will come back and get it,” she said.
The fairgrounds clinic took walk-ins at its clinic last weekend as well, drawing about 60 people so the facility is set up to move them through quickly, she said.
“We’re not too concerned that there’s going to be a large enough mass to overwhelm us of walk-ins,” she said.
To spread the word that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective, Summit Health is working closely with several partner organizations, from the county and the local hospital systems to nonprofits like Access Pointe Community Health Centers and Asian Service in Action Inc., which serves the city’s immigrant communities.
With the U.S. Census Bureau reporting about 540,000 people in Summit County, the county is nowhere near the number of vaccinated people it needs to lessen the restrictions that have been in place to keep COVID-19 from spreading, Martin said.
Social distancing and mask-wearing must continue after people are vaccinated, she said.
About 28% of Summit County residents have been fully vaccinated, or 150,000 people, according to Ohio’s Covid-19 vaccine dashboard.
About 40% of the county’s population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, which equates to about 219,000 people, the state said.