On average now, Ohio is seeing nearly 2,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, which is a fraction of the nearly 9,000 daily cases at the beginning of 2021.
More than 1.3 million Ohio residents have been vaccinated, according to the state’s online COVID-19 vaccination dashboard.
With nearly 11% of Ohioans vaccinated, Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, the Ohio Department of Health Chief Medical Officer believes the time to celebrate isn’t now.
“It’s very important that we don’t declare victory too quickly. Vaccines are working very well, but our national vaccination effort needs more time,” he said. “We have to keep up our work of preventing spread through masking and distancing.”
Dr. Vanderhoff said even though America may go head-to-head against new variants of the virus, the health care system will be more prepared to take on the battle.
“Even in the face of new, more infectious variants, we have the weapons we need to improve our lives as we head into the spring,” he said. “Masking and distancing work. They’ll be the key to living our lives normally.”
As Ohio has faced harsh weather this week, Gov. Mike DeWine and his want to remind people with scheduled vaccinations to confirm your appointment because vaccine shipments have been delayed.
In total, there are 947,389 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 reported in Ohio and 16,611 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths. A total of 49,061 people have been hospitalized throughout the pandemic, including 7,002 admissions to intensive care units. In-depth data can be accessed by visiting coronavirus.ohio.gov.