Ohio Announces First Coronavirus Mass Dose Centers

COLUMBUS – The Celeste Center in Columbus, the Cintas Center in Cincinnati and the Chapel Hill Mall in Akron are among the 16 COVID-19 mass vaccination clinics to open later this month.

Governor Mike DeWine announced that the state’s first long-term mass vaccination site will open at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center on March 17 and for the past eight weeks. At this location, up to 6,000 people can receive a COVID-19 vaccine every day.

Starting March 19, two popup sites will open in Columbus and Cincinnati. They last three to four days and have 12,500 doses each. Certain locations were not disclosed immediately.

Later in the month Ohio will open mass vaccination sites in 11 cities: Akron, Chillicothe, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Lima, Marietta, Maumee, Wilmington, Youngstown, and Zanesville. Four mobile mass vaccination clinics will be doing the rounds in the Ada, Athens, Mansfield and Steubenville areas. These locations are listed here.

The Cleveland location is a partnership with President Joe Biden’s administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The vaccine doses given there will be in addition to the regular Ohio allotment, which this week was approximately 448,000 doses.

It was chosen because of its proximity to high-risk citizens and underserved populations. More than 25,000 Ohioans live within one mile of the resort, and 45% of those residents live below the poverty line, 66% are minorities, and 6.36% are the elderly.

“This long-term clinic will reach most of the people – especially those in Ohio’s most vulnerable populations and those who face barriers to accessing health care,” DeWine said in a statement.

The Ohio Department of Health, Ohio National Guard, and the Ohio Emergency Management Agency will manage the Wolstein Center site with assistance from federal and local officials.

Any Ohioan eligible to receive the vaccine according to Ohio guidelines can be vaccinated at the clinic. However, the focus is on high-risk and underserved residents.

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