TROY — During his weekly COVID-19 update to Miami County Commissioners, Emergency Management Agency Director Joel Smith shared information regarding the vaccination program.
Statewide, 908,000 people have been vaccinated so far, Smith said.
“The good news there is the amount of people vaccinated now exceeds the number of cases we’ve had,” he said. “There’s been just over 906,000 Ohioans who have contracted COVID-19, and we’ve now vaccinated more than have had it, so that’s is a pretty good milestone to cross.”
In Miami County, 6,949 Miami County residents, or 6.5 percent of the population, have received the vaccine.
According to Smith, the Miami County Public Health Department will be administering 300 vaccinations Friday to Ohioans over 70 who scheduled appointments with the department last week. This is to take place at the Miami County Fairgrounds.
Smith said this week’s vaccination event will serve as a practice run, as the health department is planning to hold a bigger vaccination event at some point in the future once more vaccine doses become available.
On Feb. 8, Ohioans 65 years of age and older are eligible to receive the vaccine. Smith noted that while the health department’s vaccine appointments set for next week have already been filled by those who registered within the past two weeks, residents are encouraged to seek out vaccine appointments at other providers.
To find a COVID-19 vaccine provider, visit www.vaccine.coronavirus.ohio.gov.
Smith noted the vaccination of school staff began last week in nearby Montgomery County, and Miami County school staff will be eligible to receive the vaccine beginning Feb. 22. Smith said priority was given to schools that are not operating in-person.
Smith also shared stats and information regarding where the county stands in terms of case count. He noted while the county remains in the “red” zone, indicating high community spread, there has been a reduction in reported cases over the past few weeks.
According to the Ohio Public Health Advisory System’s most recent update Thursday afternoon, 519 cases have been reported over the past two weeks, with cases per 100,000 residents currently at 485.11.
Last Thursday, the case count for the previous two weeks was reported at 716 (669.24 per capita), and the week prior, 767 cases were reported over the previous two weeks (716.91 per capita).
The county is still meeting just one of the advisory system’s seven indicators, which is the new cases per capita. This indicator is triggered if there are more than 50 cases per capita reported over the previous two weeks.
In other business, commissioners:
• Set a hearing date of Tuesday, March 2, at 9:05 a.m., in the Commissioner’s Hearing Room, for the Community Development Block Grant PY 2021 Small Cities Program at the request of the Department of Development.
• Authorized a change order for the Knoop Road Bridge project for an increase of $24,675, with the total contract amount now being $570,483. According to Britt Havenar, chief deputy engineer, part of the reason for the increase was a quantity calculation error, as well as a decision to purchase asphalt now rather than wait four months for the originally planned time frame to lay the asphalt. The bridge is now open, but Havenar noted there will be another week-long closure in the spring in order to add finishing touches to the asphalt which could not be done now due to frigid temperatures.
