PANDEMIC VACCINE NEWS & UPDATES THIS WEEK
January 20, 2021
• Submit information for statewide Vaccine Provider Location search – Providers must provide vaccine administration location addresses, public phone numbers, and websites; enrolled providers should follow these instructions to submit or update information.
• Phase 1B begins – Vaccinations in Phase 1B began on Tuesday, Jan. 19. Governor DeWine announced a tiered system for offering vaccinations to the estimated 2.2 million people who are eligible for the vaccine under this phase, beginning with those who are 80 or older, outlined below. When a new age group begins, vaccinations may not be complete for the previous age group. It will take a number of weeks to distribute all of the vaccine given the limited doses available.
o Jan. 19, 2021 – Ohioans 80 years of age and older.
o Jan. 25, 2021 – Ohioans 75 years of age and older; those with a developmental or intellectual disability AND one of the following conditions: cerebral palsy; spina bifida; severe congenital heart disease requiring hospitalization within the past year; severe type 1 diabetes requiring hospitalization within the past year; inherited metabolic disorders including phenylketonuria; severe neurological disorders including epilepsy, hydrocephaly, and microcephaly; severe genetic disorders including Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, Turner syndrome, and muscular dystrophy; severe lung disease, including asthma requiring hospitalization within the past year, and cystic fibrosis; sickle cell anemia; and alpha and beta thalassemia; and solid organ transplant patients. If people believe they fit in this category, they should contact their local board of developmental disabilities, which will help coordinate vaccinations.
o Feb. 1, 2021 – Ohioans 70 years of age and older; employees of K-12 schools that wish to remain or return to in-person or hybrid models.
o Feb. 8, 2021 – Ohioans 65 years of age and older.
o Feb. 15, 2021 – Ohioans with severe congenital, developmental, or early-onset, and inherited conditions listed above. If people believe they fit in this category, they should contact their local board of developmental disabilities, which will help coordinate vaccinations.
• Vaccinations for those with qualifying medical conditions – Local boards of developmental disabilities will reach out to individuals who meet eligibility requirements to coordinate vaccinations. These boards will work with children’s hospitals and some local health departments on scheduling. Only those individuals identified and scheduled by the local developmental disabilities board will be eligible for vaccination at the local health department or children’s hospital.
• Vaccine allocation – Vaccines are in short supply in Ohio and across the country. Each week, the federal government will inform Ohio of its statewide vaccine allocation for the following week, and thereafter, providers will be notified of how many doses of vaccine they will receive. Flexibility continues to be key in vaccine planning.
• Expectation to immediately vaccinate – ODH expects providers to administer all of the vaccine they receive within seven days of receipt. Providers who are unable to administer all of their vaccine within the same week the shipment arrives should not hold the unused vaccine in reserve, but must work with other enrolled providers in their area to ensure unused vaccine is administered, following ODH’s COVID-19 Vaccine Redistribution Guidance for Enrolled COVID-19 Vaccine Providers. If ODH observes a pattern in which vaccines are not administered, a provider’s next vaccination allocation may be reduced.
• Vaccinating the vaccinators – Vaccinating the vaccinators is important and appropriate. Please limit use of allocated vaccine to no more than 5% for the purpose of vaccinating your staff (ex. 5 out of 100 doses may be used for vaccinators).