COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio crossed the milestone of 2 million COVID-19 vaccinations Monday, and the state will expand eligibility to seniors 50 and older beginning March 11, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Monday.
The governor said he spoke with the state's local health commissioners Monday morning, some of whom reported beginning to have difficulty finding eligible residents to immunize with their growing weekly allocations.
Currently, seniors in Ohio 60 and older are eligible for vaccinations. As of Monday afternoon, 1.997 million residents, or 17.1% of the population, have been vaccinated for COVID-19, according to the state’s dashboard, but DeWine said he can confirm 2 million people have been vaccinated.
"Our data is always at least a day behind as far as vaccinations, but I can guarantee you that right now 2 million have received their first vaccine, and then over a million Ohioans have received their second shot,” he said.
To date, 65.1% of seniors 80 and older have been vaccinated and the uptake is 61.8% among seniors 75 to 79. For seniors between 70 and 74, the rate was 58.9% and for seniors older 65 to 69: 47.6%. Eligibility was expanded to seniors 60 and older just last Thursday, but already 19.7% have been vaccinated.
When will the mask mandate end? Gov. Mike DeWine says "when Dr. Vanderhoff and I talked, we talked about maybe two months, but I don't think he knows and I know I don't know."
— Pete Grieve (@pete_grieve) March 8, 2021
DeWine also announced Monday that Ohio will expand eligibility Thursday to all residents with Type 2 diabetes and end-stage renal disease, which the state is calling Phase 1D. Seniors 50 and older are being called Phase 2B. Residents with Type 1 diabetes are already eligible, along with those suffering from other medical conditions. The state is also vaccinating law enforcement, funeral services, corrections officers, and childcare services in the current priority group.
Ohio has 1.2 million residents between 50 and 59. There are about 25,000 people who will qualify with renal disease and about 172,000 people who will qualify with Type 2 diabetes.
Ohio continues to report stark disparities in vaccination rates for minority communities. Monday’s report showed 16.5% of white residents and 14.7% of Asian residents have been vaccinated, but for Black residents, the rate is just 7.8%, and it is even lower, 5.7%, for Hispanic residents.
There is also a gender gap: 20.3% of women and 13.1% of men have been vaccinated.
Ohio is receiving more than 400,000 weekly vaccine doses with the arrival of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and expanded production from Pfizer and Moderna.
Coronavirus numbers continue to improve in Ohio as more residents get vaccinated. The seven-day case average was 1,554 on Monday and 830 patients were hospitalized, the lowest levels since October. On Monday, 244 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care units and 173 were on a ventilator.