Ohio expanding vaccine eligibility to those aged 16 and older

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) announced on Tuesday that the state will be expanding COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to every resident age 16 and older later this month.

DeWine said during a news conference that eligibility will be expanded on Friday to individuals age 40 and older, as well as those under 40 who have cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease or obesity.

Eligibility will open up to all Ohio residents age 16 and older on March 29.

DeWine noted that Pfizer’s vaccine is the only one authorized for 16- and 17-year-olds, whereas Moderna and Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines are authorized for those 18 and older.

The expansion puts Ohio just over one month ahead of President Biden’s directive to make all adults eligible for the vaccine by May 1.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) announced last Friday that the state will expand vaccine eligibility to residents 16 and older by April 5.

White House chief of staff Ron Klain said on Twitter that it’s “encouraging to see states moving this way … but there’s still a lot of work to do.”

“Recall that what @POTUS announced was that ALL 50 states would hit this milestone by May 1: many will get there sooner, the challenge will be getting ALL 50 states to this point by May 1,” he tweeted.

DeWine made the announcement at the launch of a mass vaccination site at Cleveland State University that is expected to vaccinate up to 210,000 people over eight weeks.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, 2.4 million people in the Buckeye State have received at least one dose of a vaccine, while 1.4 million have been fully vaccinated.