Starting today, people in Ohio who have certain medical conditions, regardless of age, can start getting COVID vaccines. However, there are many patients very upset they are not on Ohio’s list.
Will the winter storm in Northeast Ohio affect your ability to get a COVID-19 vaccine?
3News checked around to several area vaccine providers to find out if the forecast of heavy snow will affect your COVID-19 vaccination appointment. Author: Monica Robins, Dave Dino DeNatale Published: 4:51 PM EST February 15, 2021 Updated: 5:30 PM EST February 15, 2021
CLEVELAND
Editor s Note: The above story aired on February 12, 2021
A Winter Storm Warning is now in effect in Northeast Ohio through Tuesday at 1 p.m. Some parts of the area could see up to 14 inches of snow before it s all over.
We re no strangers to winter weather, but there s a bit of a hitch when a lot of seniors need to get out and about to get their vaccines. Just under 60% of 80 year olds have received at least one dose and under 37% of 70 to 79 year olds have received theirs, so a lot of providers are still working through the those age groups, not to mention
Ohio and Cuyahoga County’s shocking failure to make sure minorities weren’t shortchanged in COVID-19 vaccine scramble Editorial Board, cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, cleveland.com
For the past pandemic year, statistics have told a grim story about COVID-19 1/4 u2032s disproportionate impact on communities of color for Blacks, in particular. Nationally, Blacks have died from COVID-19 at one and a half times the rate of whites. In Ohio, Blacks accounted for 18% of COVID-19 hospitalizations, when they only constitute 13% of the state’s population and those statistics are likely incomplete.
More recently, as the COVID-19 vaccine became available, experts, including former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams, had warned of the need to make sure minorities weren’t overlooked. Adams especially flagged the need to promote the vaccine among Blacks made suspicious of a health care system that has often marginalized them.
Health officials work to build trust, bust vaccine myths
University Hospitals
Jether Tiller, 90, receives her COVID-19 vaccine at University Hospitals. Her family shared a video of the process on social media.
The first day COVID-19 vaccines were available to the public, 90-year-old Jether Tiller of Maple Heights was at University Hospitals bright and early, ready for her appointment.
She wants everybody to take the same step, so her family shared a video on social media of her vaccination. A lot of them were saying, you know, If your mother s 90 years old and got it, then I can get it also, Tiller said.
By the time the two-dose Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were approved and available, the region's health care industry says it was prepared. In many cases, providers stand ready to deliver far more vaccines than they are receiving.