Geauga County allows people to pre-register for coronavirus vaccine

CHARDON, Ohio (WOIO) - Geauga Public Health is allowing people in certain groups to be notified as soon as they’re eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

The county stared a vaccination pre-registration website which allows people to identify themselves as a member of a group that is prioritized to receive the vaccine.

Once they are eligible to receive the vaccine and the county has enough doses, Geauga Public Health will reach out to them to schedule a vaccination appointment.

“To date, we have had more than 5,200 people use the tool,” Geauga County Health Commissioner Tom Quade said.

According to Quade, the vast majority of people who have filled out the form will be in Phase 1B of Ohio’s vaccination distribution plan.

Currently, Ohio is in Phase 1A of vaccine distribution. This phase includes health care workers, first responders, and people living or working in group settings, such as nursing homes.

Phase 1B of Ohio’s vaccine distribution plan covers people over 65 years old, those with severe medical disorders, and adults working in schools.

As of midday Tuesday, just under 1,300 people in Geauga County have received a coronavirus vaccine, according to Ohio’s vaccination dashboard.

Many of those people are residents or workers in long-term care facilities who are being vaccinated through a program with private pharmacies or hospital workers who are being vaccinated by the hospital.

As for the county, Quade said they’ve received a total of 400 doses so far - enough to vaccinate 200 of the 93,000 people in Geauga County.

Quade remains optimistic that more people will be able to get vaccinated soon.

“I would like to begin Phase 1B in about 6 weeks, but that is dependent on when and how many doses we get from the state,” Quade said. “We are uncertain what the state’s scheduled delivery sizes will be, as they themselves are not certain how much they will get week to week.”

Quade said with such a small number of doses currently available, the county is able to manage vaccination clinics with employees and some volunteers; however, partnerships with other providers, including pharmacies, could be on the horizon are more doses come in.

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