OHIO — It’s been three years since the first person tested positive for COVID-19 in Ohio.

While the deaths continue to add up, numbers from the Ohio Department of Health show most of them are people who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine. ODH reports nearly 27,000 COVID-19 deaths in the state since January 1st, 2021, but fewer than 1,500 of them received a vaccine.

What You Need To Know

  • It has been almost three years since the first person tested positive for COVID in Ohio

  • The larger group of people that are still dying from COVID are unvaccinated individuals

  • Community organizations and doctors who helped administer the vaccine look back on the lives they saved

The vaccine is a lifesaving device and Cincinnati Children’s pediatrician, Dr. Robert Frenck, tested the vaccine in its early stages. Frenck and his colleagues went into the community with a RV to encourage people to get vaccinated.

“Go out in the community and bring vaccines to people so it would make it easier for them,” he said.  

Frenck said that other organizations, like First Ladies for Health, helped vaccinate the Cincinnati community and their work should not go unnoticed. 

“For the public to have trust in the medical community and to do that, you have to work with the influential people in the community so that the community hears a unified message,” he said.

Marcia Boyd, co-chair of First Ladies for Health, explained why the organization took part in events such as “Health Day” to get people vaccinated.

“We take care of the spiritual of our congregants and our communities and we wanted to make sure that they had access to the full spectrum of health-related activities. So, at this time it’s really big, or really important that people are able to get the COVID vaccine or the COVID booster,” she said.

“We went to community centers, we went to schools and had interview after interview after interview to provide information so that people could feel comfortable knowing what they’re receiving and feel comfortable that they ask their question,” Frenck said.