With more than 40% of Ohioans unvaccinated against COVID, the Ohio Department of Health is urging people to get those shots. And they say it鈥檚 critical with the way the highly contagious delta variant of the disease is spreading.
Close to 60% of Ohioans who are eligible for vaccines have gotten them and that number is higher for people over 60. (Note: the reports 45.2% of Ohioans are fully vaccinated as of July 14, 2021, but that's a percentage of the total population, not just of those who are over 16, which is the minimum age to be vaccinated.)
But it鈥檚 lower among people under 50. And now there鈥檚 a new reason for experts to urge vaccines.
鈥淭he delta variant is rapidly increasing and is on a trajectory to become the dominant strain in Ohio," said Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, Ohio Department of Health medical director.
He added those who haven鈥檛 gotten the shots need the protection that they provide. ODH said 90% of people who鈥檝e been hospitalized with COVID since April were not vaccinated.
Vanderhoff said he can understand why some people might be hesitant about taking a vaccine that鈥檚 been around for just seven months, even though it鈥檚 been rigorously tested and determined to be safe.
鈥淗owever, I don鈥檛 think it is appropriate to make decisions on the basis of bad information. I think we need to look for sources of good information, reliable information," Vanderhoff said, citing scientific research and peer-reviewed medical literature as long-standing sources of good information.
Vanderhoff said while there are risks to the vaccine, he describes them as 鈥渢iny鈥� and says the benefits are 鈥渧ast.鈥�
Dr. Andy Thomas with The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is a little more direct with his concern about the false claims that have been spreading about the COVID vaccines.
鈥淚 think those who express concerns about the vaccine having a chip that tracks their whereabouts or magnetizes them鈥擨 think those are disinformation, which is beyond unfortunate," Thomas said. "It鈥檚 disturbing.鈥�
Thomas refers to some of the false claims made to hearing testimony on a bill that would ban all mandatory vaccines, from and and in June.
Tenpenny falsely claimed that there is "some sort of an interface" between metal in the COVID vaccine and 5G cell towers and that the shots are "magnetizing" people. Overholt followed that up claiming a key and a bobby pin would stick to her, but both fell off her neck as she tried to demonstrate this claim. Renz said that children can't contract or spread COVID, and no child under 19 in Ohio has died of COVID. In fact, nearly 80,000 thousands of cases of COVID have been reported in the 2020-21 school year, and there have been 30 deaths in that age group. A video of Renz鈥� testimony has been removed from YouTube.
Renz is also an attorney who represented eight Ohioans in a suit against the Ohio Department of Health over its COVID orders, claiming they were 鈥渢yranny,鈥� but the group dropped the suit in March.
Thomas said with that in mind, he鈥檚 putting people who are hesitant about the vaccine into one of two buckets.
鈥淭he first bucket where it鈥檚 just disinformation. It鈥檚 clearly things that are irresponsibly being put out there by individuals where there鈥檚 really no basis in fact," Thomas said. "The second group, where there鈥檚 hesitancy around some of these potential complications from the vaccine. Those are being studied.鈥�
Cases and hospitalizations have ticked up lately, but the Ohio Department of Health can鈥檛 say whether that鈥檚 the delta variant or the result of July 4 gatherings.
ODH does say the delta variant, which is causing cases to climb in Asia and has brought new restrictions and shutdowns in Europe, is highly contagious and is a real threat to the unvaccinated, especially for those under 50.
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