Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted provided the following updates on Ohio's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

VACCINATIONS BEGIN IN OHIO
 The first COVID-19 vaccinations have been administered in Ohio. Shipments of 975 doses were delivered this morning to both The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus and UC Health in Cincinnati.

Several healthcare workers and personnel who are routinely involved with the care of COVID-19 patients immediately received vaccinations. 

"It was such a moment of hope to watch the healthcare workers begin to get vaccinated today," said Governor DeWine.

"Today is the first day of a process that will continue over the months ahead as Ohioans who choose to be vaccinated have their opportunity to receive the vaccine.

"However, until the vaccine is widely available for all Ohioans who choose to receive it, we must continue to use all available tools to prevent the spread of the virus, like wearing a mask, keeping your distance, and washing your hands."

Vaccine shipments will be delivered to eight additional hospitals in Ohio this week:
• Mercy Health St. Vincent Hospital, Lucas County
• Cleveland Clinic, Cuyahoga County
• Metro Health Medical Center, Cuyahoga County
• Mercy Health Springfield Regional Medical Center, Clark County
• OhioHealth Riverside Hospital, Franklin County
• Aultman Hospital, Stark County
• OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital, Athens County
• Genesis Hospital, Muskingum County

All 10 hospitals were selected based on geography, population, and access to ultra-cold storage capacity. 

As COVID-19 vaccines continue to come to Ohio, Cardinal Health’s OptiFreight Logistics business will help provide same-day delivery services. Once the vaccine is widely available, this partnership will allow Ohio to ship the vaccine to approximately 350 locations across the state.  

NURSING HOME VACCINATIONS
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has invited Ohio to participate in an early scaled launch of vaccinations in nursing homes. Ohio will begin providing vaccinations in five to ten nursing homes starting Friday, Dec. 18. 

Ohio had previously been scheduled to start its nursing home vaccination program in partnership with pharmacy providers on Monday, Dec. 21.

VACCINATION DASHBOARD
Gov. DeWine announced that Ohio will launch a new COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard in the coming days at coronavirus.ohio.gov. The dashboard will list the number of people vaccinated in Ohio and will be sortable by demographic and by county.

CURRENT CASE DATA
In total, there are 570,602 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 reported in Ohio and 7,551 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths. A total of 32,264 people have been hospitalized throughout the pandemic, including 5,209 admissions to intensive care units. In-depth data can be accessed by visiting coronavirus.ohio.gov. 

For more information on Ohio's response to COVID-19, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.