Residents urged to be patient during vaccine signup

CELINA - Local health officials are asking for patience as Mercer County residents struggle to schedule appointments to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Ohio Department of Health on Friday also announced staff at Mercer County school districts will be eligible for vaccination the week of Feb. 8.

A person on Friday contacted the newspaper with questions regarding the scheduling process to get a vaccine. Elderly friends had struggled to schedule an appointment, even when they called at the earliest time possible.

"How can all the appointments be filled within 10 minutes of registration opening?" he asked.

Mindy Kremer, vice president of development, marketing and communications for Mercer Health, said many people are confused or frustrated with the process. But with limited supply of vaccines and high demand, local and national providers are running into a vaccine bottleneck.

Kremer said Mercer Health had received 100 doses for the two clinics planned next week at Mercer County Community Hospital, Coldwater. Like many vaccine providers, Kremer said Mercer Health learns how many doses will be allotted only 24-48 hours in advance.

Phone registration for next week's clinics opened at 9 a.m. Thursday. Almost immediately, 1,000 people were queued on the phone lines, Kremer said. Within 35 minutes, all appointments were full and registration had closed.

"Vaccine allocation does not meet public demand at this time," she said.

At the Mercer County Health District, appointments for Friday's drive-thru clinic at the Mercer County Fairgrounds were fully booked within 30 minutes of registration opening.

Public health experts last year urged patience and caution as they predicted a vaccine bottleneck would likely occur. Although vaccines for the virus have been produced at record speed thanks to Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Federal Drug Administration, the demand vastly outweighs the supply.

And as more and more people become eligible for vaccination in Ohio but supply remains limited, it will take weeks, if not longer, to inoculate all those who wish to be vaccinated in Phase 1B.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, the state receives about 146,000 first doses per week to allocate to local vaccine providers. However, roughly 1 million Ohioans were eligible for vaccinations in Phase 1A, and 2.2 million people are eligible for vaccination in Phase 1B.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1.5 million vaccines have been delivered to Ohio. However, only about 843,000 have been administered.

More than 716,600 Ohioans have received their first dose, while almost 125,800 have received a second dose, according to the CDC.

Gov. Mike DeWine in a news release on Friday acknowledged the limited supply of vaccines while explaining the vaccine rollout for school staff in the state.

"(The) vaccine is incredibly scarce, and we simply don't have enough to vaccinate everyone at the same time," DeWine said in the release. "Therefore, this will be a rolling process, just like it has been during other vaccination phases, with a goal of administering all first doses by March 1.

This rollout schedule is a heavy logistical lift that aims to ensure the maximum number of people can be vaccinated in the shortest amount of time," he continued

Ohio is not alone in its struggle to administer the shots. Instead of having a national COVID-19 vaccination plan, states were tasked with formulating vaccine distribution plans on their own, further squeezing the bottleneck.

Until vaccine supplies can meet demands, national and local health officials are pleading for patience and urging residents to continue to social distance, wear a mask and wash or sanitize their hands frequently.

Kremer on Friday noted adjustments have been made to more efficiently handle the large call volumes being received, and Mercer Health officials are researching long-term solutions to ease the registration process.

Registration for vaccination at Mercer Health opens every Thursday at 9 a.m. Registration closes when the number of people registered is equal to the vaccine allotment for the next week's clinic. Kremer emphasized they have no wait lists for registration.

People eligible to be vaccinated can call 567-890-7188. Online registration is not available. Other details about location, parking, cost, what to expect and more can be found online at mercer-health.com.

The next group in Phase 1B eligible to be vaccinated includes individuals age 65 and older and adults who work in schools. All employees at K-12 schools will register to be vaccinated through the schools, according to a news release from Kremer. Teachers and staff with questions should contact their administrator.

Schools in Mercer County will be eligible for vaccination during the week of Feb. 8, the second week of the school vaccine rollout. Districts in Auglaize County will be eligible Feb. 22, the fourth week of the rollout.

Initially, Mercer County school districts were missing from the school vaccination list released by ODH on Friday. ODH press secretary Melanie Amato said the list is being updated to reflect schools in Mercer County will be in week two of the rollout starting Feb. 8.

In a separate news release, Auglaize County Health Department officials reported 11 new confirmed cases of the virus on Friday, raising the county's total to 3,242. They also reported a cumulative 1,031 probable cases, 169 hospitalizations, 56 deaths and 3,864 people who are presumed to have recovered since the pandemic began.

The case breakdown by community is Wapakoneta, 1,555; St. Marys, 1,215; Minster, 444; New Bremen, 420; Cridersville, 237; Waynesfield, 162; New Knoxville, 128; Spencerville, 31; the Lima area, 25; Uniopolis, 12; Buckland, 12; the Botkins area, eight; St. Johns, seven; New Hampshire, seven; the Lakeview area, five; the Mendon area, two; the Fort Loramie area, two; and the Harrod area, one.

Mercer County Health District officials did not provide an update by press time on Friday.

As of Friday night, ODH reported 888,590 confirmed and probable cases in the state, 45,952 hospitalizations and 11,070 confirmed and probable deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.