More than 500,000 Ohioans have received additional COVID-19 vaccine doses

As of Tuesday, 524,383 in the state have gotten an additional dose, including 523,451 adults, according to ODH. Of those who were vaccinated in Ohio, 6,265 are non-Ohio residents and 74 people did not record their residency.

In the last day, nearly 30,500 people in Ohio received an additional shot, according to the state health department.

ODH Director Bruce Vanderhoff stressed the importance of vaccination Monday, saying it’s the best protection against coronavirus.

“The best thing that we can do it get ahead of it immunologically by choosing to get vaccinated,” he said. “When more Ohioans are vaccinated, it lessens the opportunity for this dangerous virus to create variants that can take hold. It is an important step is us a population gaining control of this pandemic.

More than 55% of Ohioans, including 66.54% of adults and 64.46% of those 12 and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to ODH. More than 51.5% of residents, including 62.3% of adults and 60.21% of those 12 and older, have completed the vaccine series.

Tuesday Ohio reported 209 deaths, bringing it’s total to 24,164, according to the state health department.

The state updates death data twice a week. It can fluctuate because other states don’t regularly report death data to ODH’s Bureau of Vital Statistics.

As of Jan. 1, 9,768 who died of COVID-19 were not fully vaccinated and 227 deaths in people who were fully vaccinated, according to ODH data reported last Wednesday.

In September, an average of 64 Ohioans died from COVID-19 every day, Vanderhoff said Monday.

ODH reported 3,807 COVID-19 cases Tuesday and a 21-day average of 4,214 cases a day. The state is averaging 3,553 cases a day in the last week.

As of Tuesday, 2,550 COIVD patients were hospitalized in Ohio, including 726 in the state’s ICUs and 472 on ventilators. Coronavirus patients account for 9.8% of the state’s hospital beds, 15.47% of ICU beds and 10.12% of ventilators.

Ohio has 5,526 (21.1%) hospital beds, 997 (21.24%) ICU beds and 2,963 (63.25%) ventilators available.

In the last day, Ohio recorded 283 hospitalizations and 33 ICU admissions. The state is averaging 231 hospitalizations a day and 23 ICU admissions a day over the last three weeks, according to ODH.