De Win for De Vaccine

Gov. Dewine & His Wife Have Received The COVID Vaccine

Dewine+addressing+the+public+about+the+vaccine+rollout+%0ACredit%3A+StateNews.org

Dewine addressing the public about the vaccine rollout Credit: StateNews.org

Katherine Conner, Staff Writer/ Editor

Ohio Governor Mike Dewine and his wife, first lady Fran Dewine, received the vaccine for COVID-19 on Feb 2 in Jamestown. According to WHIO, the injections were broadcasted via a video conference that was open to the media. 

    According to Dayton Daily NewsDewine is eligible for the vaccine since he is 74 and the first lady is 73. This is the first week of eligibility for Ohioans 70 and older to receive the vaccine, according to Phase 1B of the vaccine rollout plan. The rollout plan for phase 1B is 80 and older, 75 and older as well as people with severe medical conditions, 70 and older along with K-12 school employees and people who are 60 and older.  Dewine also held a press conference at 2 pm the same day with Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to talk about the vaccine rollout. 

Teachers are also getting vaccines, as their eligibility began on Feb 1. According to Dayton Daily News, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) says COVID-19 vaccines will be administered to educators who want it in 10 of Ohio’s 88 counties by next week, including Montgomery and Butler counties. 

According to Dayton Daily News, ODH spokeswoman Melanie Amato would not specify how those counties were chosen to go first, saying only that there’s not enough vaccine to accommodate every educator the first week. ODH hopes to have about 91,000 school employees receive their first of two COVID vaccine shots next week. 

 “The governor has said the goal is for every teacher to have the opportunity to receive their first dose by March 1,” Amato said, calling it a rolling process. “The logistics of coordinating providers and public, private, charter, and career-tech schools are challenging.” Around 33 million doses of the vaccine have been given to people in the U.S alone.