Vax-2-School prizes doubled

Drawings delayed for FDA approval on vaccinating 5- to 11-year-olds

The state will double its Vax-2-School scholarship drawings -- offering $2 million in awards instead of $1 million -- but doesn't have a start date for the program.

Those between the ages of 12 and 25 can start signing up for the drawings starting Monday online through ohiovax2school.com or by phone at 833-427-5634 between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m.

A deadline to enter and drawing dates have not been announced.

The plan, announced Sept. 23, offered five $100,000 scholarships and 50 $10,000 scholarships awarded over a total of five weeks. That was a total of $1 million.

Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health, said Friday there will be 100 additional $10,000 scholarships, which adds another $1 million to the drawings.

The money comes from unused federal COVID-19 funds.

Also, if the Food and Drug Administration makes the Pfizer vaccine eligible to those between the ages of 5 and 11, they will be eligible for the drawings, Vanderhoff said.

Vanderhoff said, "In anticipation of a COVID-19 vaccine being authorized for children in this age bracket in the near future, we've decided to broaden the Vax-2-School to include this age group should they become eligible for the vaccine."

Gov. Mike DeWine last week announced the drawings would start the week of Oct. 11, but that has been delayed.

The ODH and Ohio Lottery Commission will provide the drawing dates in the weeks ahead to allow as much time as possible for the FDA authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for those ages 5 to 11, Vanderhoff said Friday.

The awards could be used for Ohio colleges and universities as well as for career or technical education and job training.

Those eligible already have been vaccinated or will get the vaccine before each of the drawings.

The Vax-2-School program is focused at younger people who aren't getting vaccinated at the rate of older Ohioans, Vanderhoff said.

About 46 percent of those between the ages of 12 and 25 have started the COVID-19 vaccination process compared to 84 percent of those at least 65 years old, he said.

These upcoming drawings are compared to the Ohio Vax-a-Million drawings, which started May 26, and gave away $1 million per week for five weeks to those at least 18 years old and full scholarships to those between the ages of 12 and 17.

Vanderhoff said there was a 44 percent increase in people at least 16 years old getting the COVID-19 vaccination the first week after the announcement, and it dropped to 15 percent in the second week.

He didn't address subsequent weeks, but the vaccination rate quickly leveled off.

"Now is really the time to be vaccinated," Vanderhoff said.

The rise in COVID-19 cases the past more than two months is caused by the delta variant spreading among the unvaccinated, causing them to get sicker faster, he said.

"This has been a pandemic wave of the unvaccinated," Vanderhoff said Friday.

CASES PER 100,000

While the number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Ohioans is high, it declined for the first time in more than three months.

The state was at 616.7 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents for the period between Sept. 16 and Wednesday, according to statistics from the ODH.

It was at 698.7 cases per 100,000 last week.

This is the first time cases per 100,000 declined since June 24 when it dropped to 21.4 cases per 100,000 compared to 26.8 cases a week prior.

However, the state's number this week is more than 32 times higher than it was 12 weeks ago.

The state was at 19.2 cases per 100,000 people July 8.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers 100 cases per 100,000 to be high transmission areas for COVID-19 and recommends face masks while indoors at public places.

Ohio has 17 counties that have more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 residents, with the lowest among the state's 88 counties being Geauga at 300.1 per 100,000.

Last week, 30 counties had more than 1,000 cases per 100,000.

The state was at 683.3 cases per 100,000 two weeks ago. It was at 582.4 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents three weeks ago, at 472.4 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 four weeks ago and at 338.1 COVID-19 cases five weeks ago.

Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana rose this week in the ranking of the state's 88 counties for COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.

While Mahoning and Columbiana saw a decline in cases, Trumbull continued to experience an increase.

Mahoning is at 53rd in the state with 703.2 cases per 100,000 residents.

It was 59th last week with 714.5 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. It was 68th two weeks ago with 630.6 COVID-19 cases, 71st three weeks ago with 467 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, 66th four weeks ago with 377.8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 and 56th five weeks ago with 306.5 COVID-19 cases.

Trumbull is 65th this week with 611.7 cases per 100,000. It has gone up in the rankings each of the past five weeks.

Trumbull was 76th last week with 561.2 cases per 100,000 and 80th two weeks ago with 484.9 cases per 100,000.

It was 85th three weeks ago with 322.8 cases per 100,000 residents, 86th four weeks ago with 266.2 cases per 100,000 and 87th five weeks with 203.6 cases.

Columbiana moved up this week to 28th with 860.8 cases per 100,000 residents.

It was 34th last week with 922.6 cases per 100,000 residents.

Columbiana was 52nd two weeks ago with 776.4 cases per 100,000 residents, 58th three weeks ago with 552.6 cases per 100,000, 61st four weeks ago with 413.2 cases and 34th five weeks ago with 398.5 cases.

The ODH measures cases per 100,000 residents among counties to get a fair comparison because total cases would result in more-populous counties ranking higher.

VACCINATIONS

There were 6,312,430 people, 54 percent of the state's population, who at least had started getting inoculated as of 6 a.m. Friday, including 4,499 in the previous 24 hours, according to the ODH.

In Mahoning County, 52.08 percent of the population (119,107 people) had received at least one dose, while 49.87 percent of the population in Trumbull County (98,725 people) and 42.46 percent in Columbiana County (43,257 people) had as of 6 a.m. Friday, according to the ODH.

There were 5,860,806 people, 50.14 percent of the state's population, who finished the vaccinations as of 6 a.m. Friday, including 4,784 in the prior 24 hours.

In Mahoning County, 48.43 percent of the population (110,742 people) had completed the process, while 46.06 percent of the population in Trumbull (91,188 people) and 39.59 percent of the population in Columbiana (40,332 people) had as of 6 a.m. Friday.

Mahoning County Public Health will have a Pfizer booster clinic 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday at the Austintown Senior Center, 112 Westchester Drive, by appointment only. To make an appointment online go to mahoninghealth.org or by phone at 330-270-2855, Option 3.

The Trumbull County Combined Health District has a Pfizer booster clinic 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Eastwood Mall in Niles. Appointments are required by going to gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov.

The Trumbull district also has clinics at the mall for those getting the vaccination for the first time 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 9. Walk-ins are welcome.