Gov. Mike DeWine opposes vaccine mandate

Calls Biden administration’s action a ‘mistake’

Gov. Mike DeWine opposes a federal vaccination mandate, but didn't say if Ohio would take any steps to block it.

The federal government announced Thursday that those who work at companies with at least 100 employees to be vaccinated fully against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or get tested. Workers can seek exemption for medical or religious reasons.

Asked Thursday about the mandate and if the state would take any steps in response, DeWine didn't address the latter.

DeWine said: "I've stated my position right after they were announced (in September) and my position has not changed. My position is that employers should not be told by government to vaccinate or require vaccinations nor should they be told they cannot require vaccinations."

DeWine added: "What the president has done is a mistake" and equated it with bills proposed by his fellow Republicans in the state Legislature to block companies from requiring vaccinations for employees.

The conservative Buckeye Institute think tank filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, over the vaccine mandate.

The mandate will "devastate an already fragile labor market and supply chains that are still struggling to recover from the pandemic," said Robert Alt, the institute's president and CEO.

DeWine said Thursday that the state is seeing a decline in cases for the past few weeks, but the numbers are still too high.

Even so, DeWine said if current trends continue, the state will be "down to a safer level" in about a month.

He again encouraged people to get vaccinated and said he was excited that the vaccine is now being offered to children between the ages of 5 and 11.

DeWine and his wife, Fran, were exposed to two staff members who recently tested positive for COVID-19.

DeWine said he was in a car for a long period of time with the two employees before they tested positive. Both staff members had been vaccinated, he said. Also, DeWine said he and his wife are fully vaccinated and received boosters. They've tested negative for COVID-19 and will continue to be tested, he said.

Also Thursday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the Biden administration's vaccine mandate for employees of federal contractors that goes into effect Dec. 8.

The lawsuit contends the mandate "threatens Ohio with the loss of millions of dollars in future contracting opportunities."

Yost said: "We have sheriffs that are going to lose a lot of talented deputies to this mandate and they'll ultimately give up their contracts to house ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detainees rather than see that happen."

Others plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the prosecutor and sheriff in Geauga County, the sheriff in Seneca County and the attorneys general in Kentucky and Tennessee.

CASES PER 100,000 DECLINES

The number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents declined by only 1.3 percent this week compared to last week in Ohio.

The 354.3 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents for the period between Oct. 21 and Wednesday is down from 359.1 cases per 100,000 last week.

Two weeks ago, it was at 419.2 COVID-19 cases per 100,000, 507.4 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 three weeks ago, 560.5 cases per 100,000 four weeks ago and 616.7 cases per 100,000 five weeks ago.

The number of cases per 100,000 in Ohio has dropped 42.5 percent in those five weeks and is at its lowest since Aug. 26 when the Ohio Department of Health reported 338.1 cases per 100,000.

The state's cases are more than three and a half times what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider to be high transmission areas for COVID-19.

The CDC number for high transmission is 100 cases per 100,000. It recommends face masks while indoors at public places in those areas, but it's not a mandate.

For the second straight week, no counties were among the state's 88 with cases above 1,000 per 100,000 residents.

The highest was Van Wert at 799.3 and the lowest was Morgan at 165.4.

Six weeks ago, there were 30 counties above 1,000 cases per 100,000 residents.

Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana had higher rates of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents than the state.

Mahoning is 38th in the state this week with 431.2 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.

Last week, it was 43rd with 439.9 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.

It was 39th two weeks ago with 538.7 cases per 100,000 residents, 40th three weeks ago with 652 cases per 100,000 residents, 55th four weeks ago with 670.4 cases per 100,000 residents and 53rd five weeks ago with 703.2 cases per 100,000.

Trumbull is 30th this week with 463.2 cases per 100,000 residents.

It was 54th last week with 382.4 cases per 100,000 residents.

Two weeks ago, it was 59th with 425.3 cases per 100,000 residents. It also was 59th three weeks ago with 541 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, 61st four weeks ago with 621.8 cases per 100,000 and 65th five weeks ago with 611.7 cases per 100,000.

Columbiana is ninth this week with 620.3 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.

Columbiana was 12th last week with 586.9 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.

It was fifth two weeks ago with 750.9 cases, ninth three weeks ago with 839.2 cases per 100,000 residents, 24th four weeks ago with 818.6 cases per 100,000 and 28th four weeks ago with 860.8 cases per 100,000.

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.