Ohio could get first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine by Dec. 15, DeWine says

First in line for the vaccinations will be caregivers who have direct contact with COVID-positive patients and nursing home workers.

Ohio Department of Health Medical Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will issue national guidance on priorities for distributing the doses.

Jasmine Shavers, a Miami Valley Hospital nurse working in a COVID-19 intensive care unit, told DeWine during the press briefing: “We’re overworked, exhausted and tired. We’re trying our best. COVID is no joke. It’s a very deadly virus. When I see people in the community not wearing masks, I just think to myself: I’ll see them in the hospital soon.”

Shavers pleaded with Ohioans to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday only with members of their household and wear a mask.

“Hopefully this vaccine helps us out because I don’t want to see any more people in the hospital than I have to,” Shavers said.

Susan Norvell of Middletown detailed how all four members of her family got infected with the virus. She and her twin daughters recovered but her husband, Keith Norvell, rapidly declined. He had to be hospitalized and then airlifted to University of Cincinnati Hospital for more extensive care. He has been in intensive care and on a ventilator for more than two weeks, Susan Norvell said.

The Ohio Department of Health on Tuesday announced 8,604 new cases and 98 more deaths in the previous 24 hours, bringing Ohio’s cumulative numbers to 371,908 cases and 6,118 deaths.

Heading into the Thanksgiving weekend, DeWine again urged Ohioans to reduce the number of contacts they have with people outside their own households and come up with a different way to celebrate the holiday.

More than one in five patients in Ohio hospitals now are COVID-positive and 14% of coronavirus tests are positive in Ohio, DeWine said. Ohio advises residents returning from states with a 15% or higher positivity rate to self-quarantine.

DeWine also asked K-12 schools that are allowing winter sports to hold the competitions without fans present.

“We just need to pull back. We need to reduce the contact that we’re seeing. Each one of us can do that,” DeWine said.