[Ohio-Talk] vaccinations per day for eight weeks

[Suzanne Turner]

and.com  <http://connect.cleveland.com/staff/jgunter/posts.html> 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The sun burned through a morning fog Wednesday outside
Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center as Ohioans made their way
inside for the first official day of mass vaccinations for the coronavirus.

Volunteers greeted those arriving and offered help with where to enter the
facility.

During Tuesday's soft opening, the center expected to vaccinate 1,500
people. The plan is to increase the daily number vaccinated by another 1,500
until they reach 6,000 vaccinations per day. They plan to remain at 6,000
vaccinations per day for eight weeks.

As Julie Washington
<https://www.cleveland.com/coronavirus/2021/03/soft-opening-at-wolstein-cent
er-mass-vaccination-center-is-smooth-and-very-organized.html> 's Tuesday
article stated, vaccinations will start at 8 a.m. and will continue through
7:30 p.m. each day. Up to 210,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses will be distributed
at the Wolstein Center, with a portion of those set aside for underserved
minority communities, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Sunday.

Starting March 19, individuals of any age with one of five medical
conditions, and adults age 40 and older, can get the vaccine, DeWine
announced Tuesday. The medical conditions are cancer, chronic kidney
disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease and obesity.

Starting March 29, every Ohioan age 16 and up can register for a vaccine.
Teens 16 and 17 can only get the Pfizer vaccine. The Moderna and Johnson &
Johnson vaccines are for adults 18 and over.

Here are more details about the Wolstein Center vaccination site:

How to register at Wolstein:

Eligible Ohioans can go to the state's new COVID-19 vaccine website to
register for the shots at the Wolstein Center and other locations at
gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov <http://gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov/> .
Individuals can also make an appointment by phone at 1-833-427-5634.

Types of vaccine:

For the first three weeks the clinic is open, Pfizer vaccine will be
administered. The following three weeks will be for second doses of the
Pfizer vaccine. Up to 126,000 doses can be given.

During the seventh and eighth weeks of the clinic, Johnson & Johnson's
one-shot vaccine will be administered, DeWine said. Up to 84,000 of those
vaccines will be given.

How the site works:

Most people can enter through the main entrance, Gate B on the corner of E.
21st Street and Carnegie Avenue.

Gate A, located on the corner of E. 21st Street and Prospect Avenue, the
northeast corner of the center, will be used for people who use wheelchairs
or need language translation or use sign language.

Everyone arriving at the Wolstein Center must pass a temperature test and
wear a CDC-approved mask.

Once inside the center, people will be seated in a row on the arena floor.
Each quadrant can hold 120 people, for a maximum of 480 people on the floor
at one time. Vaccinators will then go down each row and administer the
immunization shot. Each vaccinated person will sit for 15-30 minutes of
monitoring before leaving.

Since the vaccination is administered in two shots, each person will
automatically receive a scheduled appointment for their second shot
precisely three weeks afterward. If your appointment was at 1 p.m. on
Tuesday, your follow-up is three weeks later, at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

Where to park:

Free parking near the Wolstein Center will be available for those getting
vaccinated. Vaccine recipients also can park for free at all nearby
Cleveland State-owned lots.

Free RTA rides:

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority will offer free bus rides
to the Wolstein Center and other vaccination sites throughout the county
from Wednesday through May 8.

The all-day RTA passes will be distributed to hundreds of Cuyahoga County
and City of Cleveland social service agencies and community centers.

RTA will operate free shuttles every 15 minutes from the five nearby parking
lots to the Wolstein Center for those who drive to their appointments.

The transit agency is also offering free paratransit services to vaccination
sites. Only existing paratransit customers are eligible for these free
rides.