Individuals age 75 and older or those with a developmental or intellectual disability and one of the following conditions are eligible to make an appointment: 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.
The doses will be distributed between the county’s seven providers, which include the health district, Mercy Health, Rocking Horse Community Health Center, the New Carlisle Community Health Center and all three Springfield-area Kroger pharmacy locations.
This week the county received 1,800 total doses of vaccine to be used for those who are 80 and older. The health district began giving shots on Tuesday morning. But Rocking Horse began vaccinating residents on Thursday, as they did not receive their vaccine shipment until Wednesday.
That’s when Roger Evans, retired Springfield Police Division chief, received his first dose of the vaccine. He said he was happy to get vaccinated when he was given the opportunity so he wasn’t, “part of the problem.”
“If you don’t get vaccinated when it’s your turn you become part of the problem. You become where you’re able to give it to someone else. I have grandkids, I have a wife and I have other family members and people that I associate with that and I don’t want to be a carrier contributing to the spread of the pandemic,” Evans said.
Evans said he believes mid-information spread on social media has led people to believe the vaccine “isn’t safe.”
“It’s safe. There are rumors and bad information out there, but the doctors and scientist have all showed us, it’s safe,” Evans said. “The pandemic is spreading and the only way we are going to control it is if we all get vaccinated.”
Stacy Lee, Director of Operations for Rocking Horse, said not only is the vaccine safe but the community health center also has not had any bad reactions to the vaccine and staff is trained on what to do “in the case of an emergency.”
Lee said the setup for the vaccine at Rocking Horse was “very fast,” once the community health center found out they were selected to be a distributor last week.
“We had a short amount of time to think about it but once we got a process in place, honestly it hasn’t been bad,” Lee said. “We’re really excited about it and we’ve had a great response.”
The community health center received 300 doses of the county’s 1,800 total this week. Next week they will receive 200. Lee said the hardest part of the vaccination process has been the “unknown,” when it comes to how many doses the county will receive each week.
“We just don’t how many doses we are getting for the next week and that’s the difficult part because we can’t do anything too far in advance. But we’ve been able to schedule everyone out with enough heads up,” Lee said. “But we’ve had a great response and we want to get as many people vaccinated as we can.”
Erin Rolfes, a spokesperson for Kroger Co., echoed Lee that vaccinations are also going well at the company’s three Springfield-area locations. She said the three locations received just 100 doses each this week, and are slated to receive roughly the same again next week.
“Appointments are going quickly,” Rolfes said.
Gov. Mike DeWine released the vaccination schedule for Phase 1b, a group that includes Ohioans ages 65 and older, K-12 school staff and those with severe medical issues, two weeks ago. Those ages 80 and older began receiving vaccinations statewide on Tuesday, with the state extending the age group to receive the vaccine by five years each week from now on.
Those who meet qualifications for a vaccine are encouraged to sign up for alerts from the health district at ccchd.com or by calling 937-717-2439. More information about how eligible residents can schedule a vaccination appointment at one of the other six county providers is also available on the health district’s website.
Clark County had 10,802 cases of the coronavirus as of Thursday afternoon, according to the Ohio Department of Health. The county also had 265 deaths and 12 probable deaths, according to data from the CCCHD.
As of Thursday, 5,702 vaccination shots have been given in Clark County, according to ODH. That’s about 4.25% of the county’s population.
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