CLEVELAND, Ohio – Up to 210,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be distributed to the public at Cleveland’s Wolstein Center, with a portion reserved for underprivileged minority communities, Governor Mike DeWine said on Sunday.
DeWine visited the Greater Cleveland Urban League on Sunday night to give more details on how the mass vaccination site at the Wolstein Center will work.
The vaccine registration for the week of March 24 to 30 – the clinic’s second full week – will open on Monday morning, DeWine said.
DeWine provided concrete figures of what types of vaccines, and how many, will be available at the Wolstein Center. During the first three weeks, the clinic will be open and the Pfizer vaccine will be administered. The next three weeks will be for the second doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Up to 126,000 doses can be administered.
During the seventh and eighth weeks of clinic, the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine will be administered, DeWine said. Up to 84,000 of these vaccines will be administered.
These 210,000 doses, promised to Ohio by the Biden administration, are in addition to the weekly distributions of vaccines distributed at pharmacies, hospitals and health departments across the state.
DeWine said he hopes to be able to increase the clinic’s capacity to the 6,000 injections a day mentioned earlier next Monday, March 22. DeWine also suggested opening the vaccine’s eligibility, possibly to people aged 40 and over, in the coming days.
While at the Urban League of Greater Cleveland offices downtown, DeWine also formally announced community partnerships with organizations, such as the Urban League, that will work to expand access to the vaccine to minority communities in Cleveland.
“Our community partners are a priority,” said DeWine. “It is a priority to reach the poor, no matter where they are.”
A large number of vacancies for the first days of the mass vaccination clinic, including a “soft opening” of limited capacity of around 1,500 consultations, have been reserved for community partners, so that they could provide vaccines for those who may need it most. of them, but struggle to gain access, said DeWine.
In the coming weeks, community partners will continue to have part of the week’s appointments reserved to “ensure equitable access to the vaccine”, says a press release sent by the DeWine administration after the press conference.
If all vacancies defined for community partners are not filled, the remaining nominations will be made available to the general public, DeWine said. They will open 48 hours before the date of each clinic. The same method will be applied to appointments that have been canceled for any reason.
Commitments not filled out by community partners, or opened due to cancellations, will be available for registration on Monday as well. The governor encouraged anyone who wants a vaccine to regularly check the online registry to see if consultations have been opened.
Community partners will work not only to register people for vaccines, but also to ensure transportation to the Wolstein Center and to educate the public about vaccine effectiveness. For example, Urban League of Greater Cleveland president Marsha Mockabee said she is broadcasting prime time 30-second radio commercials on local RadioOne networks, encouraging listeners to get vaccinated.
“I’m sure that working together – because a village is needed – we will be able to do that,” said Mockabee.
DeWine and Cuyahoga County executive Armond Budish, who also attended the press conference, mentioned the possibility that mobile vaccination clinics could be set up across Greater Cleveland, particularly in areas where vaccination rates are low. However, details about these mobile units are still taking shape.
Anyone who is eligible and would like to register for a COVID-19 vaccine at the Wolstein Center, or at any local provider, can visit gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-427-5634 or United Way’s 211 hotline .
Those who receive the vaccine at the Wolstein Center will be able to park for free in five parking lots near the arena, the city of Cleveland announced Saturday night. All nearby lots owned by Cleveland State will also be free of charge to vaccine recipients.
Read more news about Ohio coronavirus:
Cleveland describes free parking spaces, parking restrictions around the Wolstein Center’s massive coronavirus vaccination clinic
Free parking, Pfizer vaccine: what to expect from the mass vaccination site against the Wolstein Center coronavirus when it opens on Wednesday
Ohio reports 893 new coronavirus cases: Sunday update