Ohio’s curfew has been lifted effective Thursday (Feb. 11) thanks to a sustained decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
“If hospitalizations begin rising again, the Ohio Department of health may reinstate it. It’s crucial that we all continue safety protocols to #SlowTheSpread and prevent hospitalizations from going up,” Gov. Mike DeWine stated Thursday.
He said, “Over 50 percent of Ohio COVID deaths have been of our most vulnerable citizens in our nursing homes — that’s why we made the decision to get them vaccinated ASAP.
“This strategy is working. The number of COVID cases in our nursing homes has dropped dramatically. Hospitalizations continue going down, and we believe a big reason for this is that those in our nursing homes have been vaccinated.”
He added, “As a part of my commitment to reduce the number of lives lost to COVID-19, I directed the ODH and our health care providers to prioritize people with developmental disabilities and severe medical conditions for vaccination.”
DeWine stated that vaccines doses will also expand to all 194 Kroger stores in the state; Blanchester Kroger has already been offering vaccinations.
Today we estimate that over 12,000 individuals in this category have been vaccinated. We will continue to work with our local partners to make sure that this population has access to the vaccine.
DeWine also offered some facts about the COVID-19 vaccines including that “vaccine development and clinical trials were thorough, and thanks to a strategic scientific effort to streamline processes, they were able to be developed more efficiently.”
He tweeted Thursday that “a typical vaccine study has about 5,000 participants; the Moderna vaccine trial had more than 30,000 participants and the Pfizer-BioNTech study had more than 43,000.” More facts are online at bit.ly/VaccineFACTS .
CCHD shots
The Clinton County Health District (CCHD) will host its next phone bank to schedule COVID-19 vaccination appointments — for those individuals 65 and older — beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 12 and ending at 10:30 a.m. (or until all slots are filled).
Clinton County residents may call 937-382-3829, option 0 (zero) for appointments for the week of Feb. 16.
Please note:
• Do not leave a message; they will be unable to return your call.
• If you do not reach a staff member, please hang up and call again.
• If you or your loved one is not age 65 and older, please do not call for an appointment.
• Vaccine supply will be even more limited over the next few weeks as vaccine is being diverted to vaccinate K-12 staff throughout the State of Ohio.
CCHD will be providing the Pfizer vaccine for these appointments, a 2-dose series given approximately 21 days apart.
If you are unable to get an appointment with the CCHD, visit Ohio’s Vaccine Provider webpage to find other vaccine providers at https://vaccine.coronavirus.ohio.gov .
Second doses ages 75+
Those individuals age 75 and older vaccinated with their 1st doses on either Jan. 28 or 29 by the CCHD will begin receiving calls from a representative from our office to remind you of your appointment date and time for your 2nd dose.
For more information, please visit https://co.clinton.oh.us/departments/HealthDistrict.
Jobless claims up
The Ohio Department Job & Family Services said Thursday the state shows a dramatic increase this week in the number of initial traditional unemployment claims filed – “the majority of which the ODJFS flagged as potentially fraudulent.
“Our Office of Unemployment Insurance Operations is investigating all claims that were flagged for potential fraud and taking steps to implement more robust identity verification in the traditional unemployment program, as well as other measures,” stated the ODJFS.
Anyone who suspects their identity was compromised and used to file a fraudulent unemployment claim is urged to report it immediately at unemployment.ohio.gov and clicking the “Report Identity Theft” button, then following instructions.
Individuals may also call (833) 658-0394.
Ohioans filed 140,444 initial jobless claims last week. The total number of initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over the last 47 weeks — 2,416,342 — was more than the combined total of those filed during the last five years.
Ohioans filed 300,638 continued jobless claims last week.
