More than 3,000 vaccinations now administered in Middletown, which led the way on school doses

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

Even after one clinic was postponed last week due to the winter storm, the coronavirus vaccinations are “going very well” in Middletown, according to city Health Commissioner Jackie Phillips.

She said the vaccination clinic scheduled for Feb. 17 was postponed one week because the health department was concerned residents couldn’t safely drive to their appointments. A vaccination clinic was held Feb. 18 in the City Building, and about 200 residents were vaccinated, Phillips said. Another drive-through clinic was held Wednesday.

Because the city its own health department, it can streamline efforts focused on Middletown, where more than 3,000 vaccines have been administered. The city was also among the first in the state to gain vaccines for the school teachers and staff, which put it on the front end of school vaccines.

Across the county, nearly 19,500 people had received both doses of the vaccines, and more then 43,000 had received at least one dose, according to Ohio Department of Health data.

About 43% of those who have received a first-dose vaccine are 70 years or older.

Middletown City Schools teachers and staff are scheduled to receive their second vaccination Friday. Phillips said Friday was chosen so they would have the weekend to recover if anyone had a reaction.

She said about 500 people in the district received the first dose of vaccine on Jan. 27. Middletown teachers and staff were the first in the state to be vaccinated.

She said 50 more teachers and staff have registered for the second dose. Phillips said after Friday, 60 o 65 percent of the district employees will be vaccinated.

The district announced Monday that when 6,300 students return from spring break on March 22, about 4,900, or 78 percent, of them will resume the first, normal school class schedule since the onset of the coronavirus in March 2020.

About 1,400 students in the city schools, however, will remain remote learners.

Those students’ parents enrolled them in a binding agreement keeping them in the district’s all-virtual learning program through the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year.

Phillips said the Middletown Health Department has administered about 3,000 vaccinations. If the city “keeps moving forward at this pace,” residents will be in “really good shape” in the coming months when the warm weather returns and people spend more time outdoors.

But that doesn’t mean the threat of spreading the coronavirus will end. Even those who receive the vaccine must continue wearing masks and practicing social distancing, Phillips said. After two doses of vaccine people are 95 percent immune to COVID-19.

Phillips has noticed that people who have received the vaccine are “a little more confident” they won’t be hospitalized, the major fear surrounding the coronavirus.


Butler County vaccines through Tuesday

  • 43,277: People who received at least one vaccine dose
  • 19,491: People who received both vaccine doses

Source: Ohio Department of Health

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