COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two “pop-up” mass vaccination sites in Cincinnati and Columbus are opening soon.
The clinics will open on Thursday and Friday of next week with a reallocation of 25,000 first-shot doses that were reallocated from the state’s “bank” of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shots from the federal long-term care facility immunization program, officials announced Wednesday.
Officials said registration details were not yet available. The state is using a new vaccine portal to register residents for their shots at mass vaccination sites and some other providers that have opted in to the state’s system.
In Ohio, residents 50 and older will be eligible for vaccination beginning Thursday. The state is also vaccinating pregnant women, a limited category of essential workers in government, and some people with medical conditions.
The pop-up vaccination site will be open Thursday, March 18, to Monday March 22 at St. John Arena and is expected to administer vaccines to 12,500 people.
The site will be operated by Kroger in partnership with Franklin County and Columbus public health departments.
According to state officials, pop-up vaccination sites are part of the state’s strategy to boost immunization rates among minority populations.
The pop-up site will be open Thursday, March 18 through March 20 at the Cintas Center. The clinic plans to offer vaccinations to 10,000 people
Kroger is also operating this vaccination site, with support from the Cincinnati and Hamilton County health departments. .
In Cincinnati, vaccines for 2,500 people will be distributed to pharmacies in “high-risk” communities.
DeWine announced last week 14 other mass vaccination sites will open by the end of the month, with the first one opening March 17 at Cleveland State’s Wolstein Center. It’ll have the capacity to administer 6,000 shots a day.
Along with the pop-up and permanent mass vaccination sites, there will be four mobile sites covering different regions of the state.
Note: Yellow = mobile sites, green = pop-up sites, and blue = permanent sites
