Gov. Mike DeWine hailed the “historic occasion” in Ohio as the first COVID-19 vaccines arrived at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center on Monday morning (December 14).
DeWine deemed the arrival the start of “the process of ‘the end’” of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This really is the day we’ve been waiting for,” he said.
Vaccine doses also arrived at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, and eight other hospitals in the state — including in Cleveland — are slated to begin receiving the vaccine Tuesday (December 15). Each one received 975 doses, DeWine said.
Essential healthcare workers will be some of the first Ohioans to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“This is a historic occasion,” DeWine tweeted Monday morning. “This is hope. This is the beginning of the end of the pandemic…These safe and effective vaccines are a crucial step on our path back to normal.”
The Ohio Department of Health reported more than 562,700 total cases and nearly 7,500 total deaths as of Sunday (December 13), the latest data available.
“This is a very exciting day for Ohio,” DeWine continued. “It’s the day that starts the process toward the end of the pandemic. The end is a long way off, but the end is in sight. Every day as we move forward from here, we’ll see more and more people vaccinated.”
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