TOLEDO, Ohio — Ohio law enforcement comes into contact with people who may have COVID-19 each and every day. However, Gov. Mike DeWine has yet to add them to the first phases of the vaccination.
This week, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost responded to the need and is taking the message straight to the governor.
Yost requested DeWine to protect Ohio first responders from the coronavirus by moving them up in the list of those being vaccinated.
In a direct letter, he says, "I request that you add law enforcement officers to the list of those who are first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine."
"The idea that law enforcement isn't included in that 1st phase is hard, it's a hard pill to swallow," Toledo Fire and Rescue Department spokesperson Pvt. Sterling Rahe said.
Rahe said he's glad to hear the attorney general is backing them.
Just recently Toledo Fire Chief Brian Byrd, while on a list to receive the vaccine, refused to get his vaccination until all first responders got one.
"I talked to him personally about this and he struggled with his personal conviction with this and it became very clear that he wanted to make a point, make a stand. And that included giving up his spot," Rahe said.
On Tuesday, DeWine defended his decision by pointing out there is a limited amount, and he has to do with what we have.
"I can not morally justify that when I know that the risk to the 85-year-old grandmother is so much more than the risk it is to the police officer. Even though I understand the police officer is facing a lot of difficult situations every day," DeWine said.
Still, a spokesperson with the Toledo Police Patrolmans' Association is questioning the process.
He says in the last 21 years, he's been told they were considered first responders, and how they were left out, beats him.
"Not to take away from our elderly population and the risk that they have but this is day in and day out. 24/7, 365 days a week. It doesn't stop. Law enforcement doesn't have the opportunity to pull in and park somewhere and spend their shift and have no contact with the public," Rahe said.
RELATED: Toledo fire chief declines to get COVID-19 vaccine until police are also included in state's program
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