COLUMBUS — Ohio has begun testing its plans to receive coronavirus vaccines, which Gov. Mike DeWine believes will begin arriving by mid-December.
DeWine toured the Ohio Department of Health’s Receipt, Store and State warehouse facility, and the state has been distributing adult flu vaccines using the same process it plans to distribute COVID-19 vaccines as a test.
And, on Monday, the Ohio Department of Health took part in a nationwide end-to-end training exercise with packaging that will be used to distribute the Pfizer vaccine, which is expected to be the first to receive emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, according to DeWine’s office.
Ohio plans to have vaccine doses shipped directly to 10 prepositioned hospital sites in Lucas, Cuyahoga, Clark, Franklin, Stark, Hamilton, Athens and Muskingum counties. More providers will receive the vaccine as supplies increase.
Providers needing fewer than 975 doses, such as smaller local health departments and physicians’ offices, will have vaccines shipped to the warehouse, which can hold up to 720,000 doses.
Also, DeWine’s office said it anticipates the Moderna vaccine will be shipped directly to providers administering the vaccine when it receives emergency use authorization.
