The Delaware Public Health District will continue offering its walk-in clinics for those who wish to receive the COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccine.

The first is Wednesday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at People In Need, Inc. at 138 Johnson Drive in Delaware. The second is June 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Juneteenth Festival in Blue Limestone Park, 6 King Ave. in Delaware.

Also, the health district will have a first dose COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer) clinic for school age children 12 and older from 2:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Willis Education Center (east door), 74 W. William St. in Delaware. The second dose will be administered at the same location from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 19.

Individuals may preregister for these clinics at DelawareHealth.org/covid-19vaccine or by calling the DPHD at 740-368-1700. The district offers vaccinations for the homebound, as well as workplaces that employ 50 or more. Individuals can even get free rides to and from the appointments using Delaware County Transit by calling 740-363-3355.

The district’s weekly COVID-19 Vaccine Breakdown on Monday said 29,774 doses have been received so far. A total of 25,979 doses have been administered so far, up more than 500 from last week. Therefore, 87% of doses received have been used. There are 519 doses reserved for this week’s clinics and 658 upcoming appointments.

The average new cases per day per 100,000 population is now five. Earlier this month, Delaware County dropped from red back to orange on the state’s Public Health Advisory System for the first time since last October.

“As a reminder, fully vaccinated people that come in contact with a COVID-19 case do not need to quarantine,” DPHD said in its weekly update.

To clear up what may be a point of confusion, the DPHD noted, “While the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) said on (May 13) that masks and social distancing are no longer necessary for people who have been fully vaccinated, they also stated that these new directives do not override any existing state and local guidelines, including those of individual businesses and workplaces.”

In the state of Ohio, that means “the Ohio Department of Health will remove most pandemic health orders on June 2. ODH set this timeline to allow any Ohioan who has not yet received a COVID-19 vaccine to obtain one to protect themselves and others before the lifting of coronavirus mitigation protocols.”

Those health orders include face coverings, social distancing and capacity restrictions. However, they will remain for nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

As an incentive to get more people vaccinated, Gov. Mike DeWine announced a series of statewide drawings administered by the ODH with assistance from the Ohio Lottery Commission. Eligible Ohioans under 18 can win a full-ride scholarship to any Ohio state college or university, and those 18 or older can win in the Vax-A-Million. Drawings for each age group take place for five weeks starting Wednesday.

Delaware has the highest percentage of its population started on the vaccine, said the Ohio Department of Health. There are 121,202 residents who have started on the vaccine, or nearly 58% of the population. The nearest county in percentage started is Lake County with 51%.

Delaware County also has the highest vaccination completion rate among Ohio’s 88 counties. Delaware has 107,650 people who have completed the vaccine, or more than 51% of its population. No other county in the state has even reached 45%.

The Ohio Department of Health’s COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard said 5.1 million Ohioans, or 44% of the population, has started on the vaccine. Statewide, 4.5 million have completed the vaccine, or 39% of the population.

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said Monday that Ohio remains seventh in the nation for the number of people fully vaccinated. However, it has fallen below the U.S. average in terms of percentage of people fully vaccinated.

The CDC’S Coronavirus page said 286.8 million vaccines have been administered in the United States, up more than 20 million from last week. In addition, 61.5% of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccination.