Ohio will be experimenting with a walk-in vaccination clinic that does not require an appointment, Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine announced on Thursday.
DeWine said the state had approved the experiment in Cleveland after it had been approached asking to try out the method.
“We’re going to try out in the next few days in Cleveland a controlled group who will actually be able to walk up,” DeWine said. “…This is working in Cleveland with our community partners, and this would be underserved populations. We’re working with some ministers who basically said ‘we want to try this, we want to bring in people from our community,’ and they said, ‘will you let us try that?’”
The governor said that additional details about the program would be announced later.
Vaccinations will be available to those ages 40 and older, as well as to those with cancer, chronic kidney disease, COPD, heart disease or obesity, starting on March 19. All Ohioans ages 16 and older will be eligible to take the vaccine on March 29. Minors will only be able to take the Pfizer vaccine, which is the only vaccine currently approved for people ages 16 and 17, while those ages 18 and up will be able to take any vaccine.
“We are also, frankly, in a race, and we don’t know exactly what the enemy is doing,” DeWine said on Thursday. “But the good news is — from talking to scientists and talking to epidemiologists, that they do believe that the variant is spreading in Ohio — the good news is the vaccine appears to be just as powerful, they think, against the variant as against what we were dealing with before.”
DeWine said the variant is also believe to be more contagious.
“We need to continue to vaccinate just as quickly as we can.”
Ohio has vaccinated nearly 22 percent of its population, or a little more than 2.5 million people, according to data from the Ohio Department of Health.
For more information about the vaccine or to book a vaccination appointment, go to the Get The Shot website.
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Jordyn Pair is a reporter with The Ohio Star. Follow her on Twitter at @JordynPair.
