TOLEDO, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is expanding vaccine eligibility, with Phase 1C and Phase 2 both starting on Thursday.
In northwest Ohio, there are some counties reporting they are ready to vaccinate more residents, while others are still behind on Phase 1B.
Toledo-Lucas County Health Commissioner Eric Zgodzinski said he felt like his county had made a dent in the 1B group and that it was possibly time to start adding more people.
The county recently announced new vaccine locations, with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine coming in next week.
Currently, multiple counties in northwest Ohio are leading the way in terms of the percentage of its population vaccinated.
For comparison, Lucas, Wood, Ottawa, and Henry counties all rank in the top 10 statewide with the highest vaccination percentage.
Ottawa County Health Commissioner Jerry Bingham said his county doesn't receive as many vaccines as neighboring counties because of their population. His team is working hard to make sure eligible people can get their shot, but have a big focus on working from the oldest citizens down.
"We get very limited doses here in Ottawa County based on our overall population, about 44,000. So, once we get those doses, we schedule our clinic fairly quickly and we use all of our vaccine as soon as possible," Bingham said. "We do that in hope that we'll get more vaccine on the next round because we know that we have one of the oldest populations in the state of Ohio when it comes to the older demographic."
WHO QUALIFIES UNDER PHASE 1C AND PHASE 2?
MEDICAL CONDITIONS ELIGIBLE UNDER PHASE 1C:
- Those with Type 1 diabetes
- Those who are pregnant
- Those who have bone marrow transplants
- Those with ALS
OCCUPATIONS ELIGIBLE UNDER PHASE 1C:
- Law enforcement and corrections officers
- Childcare services
- Funeral services
PHASE 2:
- Ohioans 60 and older
Those who qualify under these new phases can begin scheduling appointments on Thursday.
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