One of Delaware County’s most vulnerable populations — the homebound — are now able to receive the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination.
“In an effort to reach our community’s most vulnerable residents, a COVID-19 vaccination partnership allows homebound residents to receive their vaccination through one of our emergency partners in the comfort and safety of their home,” the Delaware Public Health District posted on Facebook April 30.
“This service — made possible through a continuing collaboration with SourcePoint: Thrive after 55 — secures an appointment for homebound residents to receive their vaccination by a paramedic from either the City of Delaware, Ohio’s Government Fire Department or Delaware County EMS (depending on the jurisdiction) along with a visit from a service coordinator that helps with any additional needs or issues,” the health district continued.
Appointments for homebound COVID-19 vaccinations can be made by calling the DPHD at 740-368-1700.
Also, individuals unable to get a shot due to a lack of transportation can get free rides to and from COVID-19 vaccine appointments from Delaware County Transit by calling 740-363-3355.
The DPHD’s weekly COVID-19 Vaccine Breakdown on Monday said 28,080 doses have been received so far, up 1,000 from last week. A total of 23,102 total doses have been administered so far. Therefore, 82% of doses received have been used, unchanged from the previous week. There are 935 doses reserved for this week’s clinics and 1,964 upcoming appointments. To schedule an appointment, visit DelawareHealth.org/covid-19vaccine.
The district’s end-of-month trends report noted that “vaccination and prevention efforts are contributing to a decrease in long-term care facility cases and outbreaks among residents and staff.”
However, the DPHD said, “It takes a combination of high levels of vaccination coupled with strong mitigation measures in order to see cases, hospitalizations, and deaths drop abruptly. It is important to keep in mind that immunosuppressed individuals don’t always mount as strong an immune response to vaccinations. These individuals still benefit from the vaccine, but they also need the additional protection of ‘the herd.’ In countries with high vaccination rates, maintaining precautions for another 6-8 weeks could make a huge difference in accelerating declines in cases and deaths.”
Delaware remains the only county in the state to have more than half of its population started on the vaccine, said the Ohio Department of Health. There are 110,597 residents who have started on the vaccine, or 52.87% of the population.
As of Monday, Delaware is also the only one of the 88 counties in Ohio to have more than 40% of its residents completing the vaccine. The total is 89,559 having completed the vaccine, or 42.8% of the population. That’s up more than 8,000 from last week.
The Ohio Department of Health’s COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard said 4.7 million Ohioans have started on the vaccine, just over 40% of the population. Statewide, 3.8 million have completed the vaccine, or 33% of the population.
Ohio is ranked 24th in the United States for the percentage of people fully vaccinated, said the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center on Monday afternoon. While that may seem low, leading the way was New Mexico with 36.44%. However, in terms of the number of people fully vaccinated, Ohio remains seventh in the nation.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Data Tracker said 312.5 million vaccine doses have been delivered in the United States, with 246.7 million administered. Both of those numbers have increased by 14 million over the past week.
There are 147.5 million Americans who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, or 44.4% of the total population. Also, 105.5 million Americans, or 31.8%, are fully vaccinated.
By age, 145.3 million people 18 years and older have received at least one dose, or 56.3%; and 104.7 million, or 40.6%, are fully vaccinated. Of those 65 and older, 45.2 million, or 82.8%, have received at least one dose; and 38.1 million, or 69.7%, are fully vaccinated.
In other vaccination news, the CDC has recommended the Johnson & Johnson vaccines resume. There have been 15 cases of blood clots in the nearly 8 million vaccines administered, the University of Cincinnati Health reports.
