Ohio to exempt fully vaccinated nursing home staff from routine testing

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted provided the following updates on Ohio’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Long-term care/nursing facility testing order – DeWine announced today that a new Ohio Department of Health order will exempt fully vaccinated staff in nursing homes and assisted living facilities from routine testing. Staff members who are not fully vaccinated will be required to be tested twice a week.

An individual is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines or two weeks after the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Homebound vaccination plan – The Ohio Department of Aging and Ohio Department of Health have developed a homebound vaccination playbook for organizations working to ensure homebound individuals have access to the vaccine. By utilizing existing Rapid Response Teams, Ohio can deliver the vaccine where it is needed. That playbook is available on the coronavirus website. If you are a homebound individual or know a homebound individual who would like a vaccine, contact your Area Agency on Aging at 1-866-243-5678.

Wolstein walk-ins – Ohio’s mass vaccination center at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland continues to accept walk-ins to the clinic. Last week, 2,000 walk-ins were vaccinated. Of the total vaccinated at the Wolstein Center last week, approximately 44 percent of those vaccinated were minorities and approximately 68 percent live in targeted high social-vulnerability zip codes.

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The clinic is open seven days a week, and walk-ins are accepted from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Appointments are also available in advance by visiting GetTheShot.coronavirus.ohio.gov… or by calling 833-4-ASK-ODH.

The Cleveland Indians are offering discounts on tickets for anyone who has been vaccinated at the Wolstein Center or any other vaccination location. Fans can get $5 off regular priced Upper Box and Upper Reserved tickets if they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. This offer is only available online for series against the Cincinnati Reds May 7-9, Chicago Cubs May 11-12, and Minnesota Twins May 21-23.

The Reds are also offering discounted View Level tickets for $10 for fans who show their COVID-19 vaccination card with at least one shot complete. The offer is valid at Great American Ball Park ticket windows for Monday-Thursday games through June.

Case data/vaccine information

• In-depth COVID-19 data for Ohio: coronavirus.ohio.gov.
• Ohio’s central scheduling system: gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov…
• Ohio mass vaccination information: coronavirus.ohio.gov…
• All vaccine providers: vaccine.coronavirus.ohio.gov…
• More vaccine information: coronavirus.ohio.gov…
• Video of today’s full update, including versions with foreign language translation, can be viewed on the Ohio Channel’s YouTube page.

For more information on Ohio’s response to COVID-19, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.

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