As vaccines get shipped out to Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine and Fran DeWine are touring several vaccination sites across the state to see how the rollout is going.
The couple stopped in Chillicothe’s Shoemaker Center at Ohio University – Chillicothe on Wednesday.
It is one of many vaccination sites in Ohio already open, and the state government says more will open in the coming days.
The governor and his wife walked through the gym at The Shoemaker Center Thursday afternoon and talked to those in charge and those waiting to get their vaccine.
“These vaccination sites are full of happy people. It’s just an amazing thing to go out and talk to people who are vaccinated,” DeWine said.
“They really feel like they got the world kind of lifted off their shoulders. They can see the grandkids, you know, they can live a much more normal life.”
The clinic at Shoemaker operates five days a week and normally averages a few hundred vaccinations a week.
Statewide, the governor noted 21 1/3% of all Ohioans are fully vaccinated. Two-thirds of people 70 years and older have completed that process.
DeWine says vaccine eligibility will expand on Friday, March 17, 2021.
The governor acknowledged that some Ohioans are having trouble booking an appointment online, but said there are plenty of shots for people and various health departments across the state have openings for next week.
He noted the expanded eligibility will happen so soon because there are plenty of vaccines to go around.
DeWine also said there will be even more vaccines available by the time those 16 and older are eligible on the 29th.
“If you go back in early January, we had less than 100 thousand. So we’re at a much much higher level,” he said.
“So, my guess would be in that two to three weeks after that opens up, people are not going to have any trouble finding opportunities to get a shot.”
With more vaccines coming into 13,000 sites across the state, the governor doesn’t see anything wrong with vaccinated people having or attending events like weddings in the next couple of months.
As far as other events usually planned for the summertime, Governor DeWine says he plans on rolling out some updated guidance for proms on Thursday.