COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine each received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday morning. The shots came just hours before Gov. DeWine hosts a 2 p.m. COVID-19 press briefing with Lt. Gov. Jon Husted.
The vaccination of the 74-year-old governor and the 73-year-old first lady comes as Ohio continues its Phase 1B program. On Monday, the state began vaccinating school employees with the stated goal of having all districts back to either in-person or hybrid learning by March 1. Other groups included in Phase 1B of the state's vaccination rollout includes adults 65 years or older and those with developmental disorders including Sickle Cell or down syndrome.
We streamed live video of both getting vaccinated, which you can watch in full below:
The state is planning to allocate roughly 100,000 vaccines for elderly Ohioans each week and 55,000 for school employees. DeWine says Ohio has been averaging about 146,000 1st doses coming into the state every week. As more areas in Ohio finish up Phase 1A, more doses will be available for those in Phase 1B.
Because Ohio is not drawing down all the vaccine doses that the federal government required the state to set aside for nursing homes (because not all residents/staff are choosing to receive the vaccine), DeWine says Ohio will have another 77,000 doses over the next 2 weeks to distribute in the community.
More COVID-19 vaccine coverage:
- Tips on how to avoid COVID-19 vaccine scams and more answers to your vaccination questions with 3News' Monica Robins
- Rollout of COVID-19 vaccine to Northeast Ohio's educators starts slowly
- COVID-19 vaccine in Northeast Ohio: Here's where to find information on providers near you
- Local pastor urges people of color to get their COVID-19 shots