(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio
Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted today provided the
following updates on Ohio's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
VACCINE AVAILABILITY
Governor DeWine announced today that Ohio is expected to receive
more than 448,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine this week. Of that
total, more than 96,000 doses of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine
will be delivered to around 200 new independent pharmacy providers
as well as chain pharmacies, hospitals, and health departments.
Ohio now offers more than 1,200 provider locations. Ohioans can find
vaccine provider locations at vaccine.coronavirus.ohio.gov. Those
who do not have access to the internet or are having trouble
managing the online scheduling systems should call their local
health department, the 211 helpline center, or the Area Agencies on
Aging at 1-866-243-5678.
PHASE 1C AND PHASE 2 VACCINATION ELIGIBILITY
In response to this significant increase in the amount of vaccine
coming into Ohio, Governor DeWine today outlined the individuals who
are included in Phase 1C and Phase 2 of Ohio's vaccination plan
which will go into effect on March 4.
Phase 1C includes approximately 246,000 eligible Ohioans with
certain occupations and with certain medical conditions not
addressed in previous phases.
Phase 1C: Medical Groups
Type 1 diabetes
Pregnant women
Bone marrow transplant recipients
ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
Phase 1C: Occupations
Childcare Services - Approximately 40,400 Ohioans:
Administrators, lead and assistant teachers, and substitutes who are
enrolled in Ohio’s Professional Registry who are currently working
in open childcare and pre-kindergarten programs.
Licensing specialists employed by the Ohio Department of Job and
Family Services or county job and family services agencies.
This phase does not include parent volunteers, board members, or
owners/administrators that do not provide in-classroom supports.
Funeral Services - Approximately 3,600 Ohioans:
Embalmers/morticians, funeral home directors, crematory operators,
and apprentices.
Law Enforcement and Corrections Officers - Approximately 76,000
Ohioans:
Phase 1C Occupations
Examples of law enforcement occupations included in Phase 1C are
police officers; sheriff’s deputies; Ohio State Highway Patrol
Troopers; other state or federal enforcement officers such as Ohio
Department of Natural Resource enforcement staff, pharmacy board
investigators, BCI agents, state fire marshal investigators, federal
transportation security officers, and other federal law enforcement
officers who do not have access to vaccination from federal sources.
Phase 2
Because the risk of more severe reactions and outcomes of COVID-19
increase with age, Phase 2 will open vaccinations based on age,
beginning with Ohioans ages 60 and older. This group includes
approximately 695,000 eligible Ohioans.
FEDERAL STIMULUS PACKAGE & BIASED FUND ALLOCATION
Lt. Governor Jon Husted outlined provisions in the federal stimulus
package recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that if
signed into law would disproportionally and negatively impact Ohio
and its recovery.
This $1.9 trillion COVID Relief Bill provides significant additional
relief funding for state and local governments, however, the
as-passed version adopted by Congress distributes the $350 billion
in coronavirus relief funding to state and local governments using a
formula that incorporates state unemployment rates as of the fourth
quarter of 2020, instead of using a solely population-based formula.
As a result, this benefits states with higher unemployment rates
during that period.
Under the current proposal, because Ohio’s December 2020
unemployment rate was 5.5 percent, the state will miss out on over
$800 million compared to if a more equitable population-based
formula was used, as was used for the CARES Act.
Over the weekend, governors across the country, including Governor
DeWine, released a joint statement opposing the new standard in the
federal stimulus bill for how federal funds would be allocated to
states:
The statement reiterates that “the new stimulus proposal allocates
aid based on a state’s unemployed population rather than its actual
population, which punishes states that took a measured approach to
the pandemic and entered the crisis with healthy state budgets and
strong economies.”
There are 33 states expected to lose funding under this proposal.
OHIO DEPARTMENT OF JOB AND FAMILY SERVICES
Kim Henderson, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family
Services, will be relocating to North Carolina in the spring. She
will remain in the director role until Monday, March 8. Matt
Damschroder, current director of the Ohio Department of
Administrative Services (DAS), will move into an interim director
role at that time. Henderson will become a senior advisor to him
until her last day on April 30th.
A nationwide search will be launched for Director Henderson’s
permanent replacement. Until that search concludes, Assistant DAS
Director Matt Whatley will work as interim director at DAS.
CURRENT CASE DATA
In total, there are 968,874 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19
reported in Ohio and 17,346 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths.
A total of 50,382 people have been hospitalized throughout the
pandemic, including 7,148 admissions to intensive care units.
In-depth data can be accessed by visiting coronavirus.ohio.gov.
Townhall Schedule
Video of today's full update, including versions with foreign
language translation, can be viewed on the Ohio Channel's YouTube
page.
For more information on Ohio's response to COVID-19, visit
coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH. |
