DeWine: Winter Months 'Probably Going To Be Hell' If COVID Spread Continues

Gov. Mike DeWine signaled the “beginning of the end of the pandemic” when COVID-19 vaccines began to arrive this week, but Ohio isn’t out of the woods yet.

DeWine warned that the next few months could be “hell.”

The Ohio Department of Health reported more than 579,000 total cases and more than 7,600 total deaths as of Tuesday (December 15), the latest data available.

There were 8,755 new cases, 103 deaths and 614 new hospitalizations Tuesday. That's the “second-highest of the pandemic to date,” DeWine noted.

Although thousands more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are on the way — both from Pfizer and Moderna — DeWine warned that spread of the virus could still be brutal during the winter months.

“This vaccine is not going to cover people quickly enough,” DeWine said. “The rest of December, January and February are probably going to be hell if we don’t turn this thing around.”

Vaccines began to arrive in the state on Monday morning (December 14), at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Several other hospitals have also begun to receive doses of the vaccine.

Essential healthcare workers will have access to the vaccine first, followed by residents and staff of long-term care facilities.

“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.”

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