Miami County among top in state in rate increase since Vax-a-Million announced

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio First Lady Fran DeWine (right) look on as Barry Gertner, 54, gets a COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic in Piqua. EILEEN McCLORY / STAFF

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio First Lady Fran DeWine (right) look on as Barry Gertner, 54, gets a COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic in Piqua. EILEEN McCLORY / STAFF

Miami County is among the top 10 counties in Ohio to report an increase in coronavirus vaccination rates in the days following the announcement of the Vax-a-Million campaign, Gov. Mike DeWine announced.

It’s the only county in the region to make the top 10.

Miami County is sixth in the state for its 129% vaccination rate increase for the week of May 14-19, compared to May 7-12.

Athens County saw the highest increase with 144%.

Overall, the state had a 16% increase in the days following the Vax-a-Million campaign’s announcement on May 12 when compared to the days leading up to the governor’s statewide address.

The 10 Ohio counties with the highest increase in vaccination rates include the following:

  1. Athens County: 144%
  2. Harrison County: 143%
  3. Morgan County: 138%
  4. Seneca County: 138%
  5. Wyandot County: 129%
  6. Miami County: 129%
  7. Gallia County: 119%
  8. Lawrence County: 113%
  9. Fayette County: 113%
  10. Ross County: 107%

When asked if other factors could be driving the increase in vaccination rates DeWine said before the campaign announced the rate was decreasing.

“We were going down and we’d been going down,” he said. “We knew that for us to really get out of this pandemic and to move forward we needed to have more people vaccinated.”

DeWine added that he’s “more than happy” with the reversal in the trend and that the state is seeing an increase in vaccinations among all demographics.

“Having more people vaccinated really allows us to get back to normal,” the governor said.

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