HCPH continues vaccinating county residents

NORWALK — Huron County Public Health's COVID-19 vaccine distribution continues making progress, completing the second round of Huron County school vaccinations. Huron County Public Health (HCPH) also hosted vaccination clinics for the general public. Johnson & Johnson's vaccine also became available to Ohioans this week. All 300 doses received by HCPH were scheduled to be administered at a fully booked drive-thru clinic on Saturday. This week, Gov. Mike DeWine announced a number of expansions to vaccine eligibility, including adding additional qualifying medical conditions and three qualifying occupational categories, as well as extending the age qualifier down to those aged 60 years and older. Both of these advancements in eligibility and supply will continue to make the COVID-19 vaccine more quickly and widely available to residents. Currently authorized Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines require two shots to get the most protection, which is given either 21 or 28 days apart, while the newly release Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires a single-dose shot and is included in the 'Total Vaccinated' category of COVID-19 case data. Throughout the county, 4,087 individuals have received a complete vaccination and 7,081 have received their first shot. For the reporting period of Feb. 26 to March 4, there were 90 new cases of COVID-19 reported. In total, there have been 4,843 total confirmed and probable cases, including deaths, in Huron County. Of the cases, 7 percent were hospitalized at some point during illness. In all, there have been 117 fatalities. As of Thursday, Huron County remains an Alert Level Red on the Ohio Department of Health's Ohio Public Health Advisory System. As of Monday, March 1, Huron County was ranked 19/20 in the top 20 high incidence counties in Ohio for COVID-19. HCPH urges all residents to assess their own individual risk for illness before leaving their homes, exercise a high degree of caution when in public, and continue to follow all current health orders. Continued vaccine updates can be found at huroncohealth.com/covid19vaccine.