[ad_1]
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is worried again, he admitted on Friday. The number of COVID-19 cases is increasing again throughout its state as the delta variant, which is much more contagious than the strain that reached Ohio in 2020, spreads.
“I lost good friends who died,” he said. “I think everyone has had someone in their family, someone they know, who has been sick (with) COVID. We lost a lot of people in Ohio.
And the state is on the way to losing more. The delta variant is fueling a resurgence of the virus, especially in counties with low vaccination rates. More than 50 in 100,000 Ohio residents have contracted COVID-19 – a ratio that had previously prompted DeWine to require statewide masking.
But the governor plans to offer more incentives, not more warrants, to encourage unvaccinated people to get vaccinated.
“We’re always looking at all the different things we can do,” he said. “We have implemented the policy of paying people on Medicaid – people on Medicaid represent a very small number of people vaccinated. We are doing the same thing again for government employees.
People in these two groups – people on Medicaid and government employees – can receive a payment of $ 100 to get the vaccine. President Joe Biden has recommended state and local governments consider offering similar payments to all unvaccinated people, withdrawing funds from their US bailout allocations if necessary.
DeWine said he also hoped that the regular FDA approval of the vaccine – which has yet to happen, although the agency continues to work on it – will allay the fears of unvaccinated people who feared receive an injection that was not fully injected, formal approval process.
The agency’s regular seal of approval could be the final incentive needed to convince business owners that they should demand that employees be vaccinated.
“I have companies that have told us that once the FDA says it’s regular use – it’s no longer emergency use, now it’s regular use – businesses will feel more comfortable doing this, ”DeWine said.
Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines received emergency use authorization in late 2020, allowing healthcare workers to begin administering them immediately during one of the most desperate hours of the pandemic.
Both are still under closer scrutiny. According to CNN, experts and FDA officials plan to issue full approval for regular use in the coming months.
DeWine added that he wants to be patient and respectful towards people who have not yet received their vaccines. He knows they might not listen to his advice when he evangelizes in favor of the shooting.
“I think we need to hear why they have reservations,” he said. “We have to try and get the doctors in Ohio – not me, the doctors in Ohio – to explain to them, ‘This is science. Here are the facts. I think it’s really the best bet to get more people vaccinated. “
[ad_2]
Source link