COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine said Sunday he has "a great deal of respect" for his Republican colleagues in Texas and Mississippi, but the state will end health mandates more gradually — doing it the "Ohio way." 

Appearing on ABC's This Week, the governor was asked for his thoughts on Republican governors ending mask mandates and other health orders as COVID-19 vaccines bring cases and hospitalizations down. 

"We're trying to do it the Ohio way, and with the vaccine, we're now on the offense. That's the great thing. But in Ohio, we can't give up the defense. We have found that these masks work exceedingly well," he said.

In a Thursday evening address, DeWine announced that all health mandates will come off when Ohio drops below 50 cases per 100,000 people for two weeks. DeWine said the state has dropped from incidence levels above 700 in December, but Ohio is still "a ways from that" target of 50 cases. 

Ohio Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said Friday afternoon it would likely take more than a few weeks for Ohio to get there, with officials reporting Thursday that Ohio was at 180 cases per 100,000 people in the latest two week period. 

The governor also said during the interview he expects the state will have vaccinated more than 2 million people by the end of the day Monday. 

"We're moving very quickly," he said. "Every day gets better and better and better."

The governor declined to say whether he thought Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to end Texas's mask mandate and fully reopen was a "political" move.

"I don't know what's going on in Texas. I got one state to worry about and that's Ohio."