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ST. CLAIRSVILLE – Third doses of COVID-19 vaccines are being made available to people with weakened immune systems as the number of cases slowly increases.
Belmont County Assistant Health Commissioner Robert Sproul confirmed via text message Tuesday that there had been 6,976 total cases in the county since the start of the pandemic, with 6,425 recoveries. He said there are 420 active cases with 10 hospitalized residents. A total of 121 Earls of Belmont died after contracting the virus.
Statistics for the county recorded by the state continue to differ from those reported by local sources. According to coronavirus.ohio.gov, there have been 6,693 cases in total with 6,108 recoveries and 181 deaths associated with the virus. Various reasons have been put forward for the discrepancies, which appear to exist in all counties in the region.
Sproul said those hospitalized are of all age groups, with the youngest being 30. Only one of them had been fully vaccinated.
He added that his department was administering third doses of the vaccine.
“We did 50 third doses (Monday) for the immunocompromised”, he said.
Garen Rhome, administrator of the Harrison County Department of Health, said third doses were also available for vulnerable people.
“We are currently offering the third injection to the immunocompromised population which was identified a few weeks ago now” he said. “It’s a conversation to have with your doctor and we can offer that third dose if any of those immunocompromised wants to get it. … It is a very small population.
“Regarding the third dose for the general public, we certainly haven’t started to roll it out. The September 20 target set by the Biden administration… are guidelines under review by the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and we will await approval (Food and Drug Administration) and (American Society for Investigative Pathology) before we can offer this to the public ”, he said. “We hope to see this at the end of September. “
Rhome said people will be able to receive their third dose eight months after their last vaccinations.
Rhome’s office has reported a total of 1,247 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 1,189 recoveries. There are now 34 active cases in the county and three people hospitalized with the virus. Two of the 34 active cases are fully vaccinated. A total of 24 residents died after being infected.
Again, the state figures differ. According to coronavirus.ohio.gov, there have been 1,226 total cases and 1,126 recoveries, with 38 deaths associated with the virus.
“We have eight new cases (Tuesday)”, Rhome said.
The Monroe County Health Department is reporting 1,482 cases in total with 1,400 recoveries. There are 40 active cases with two people hospitalized and 42 Monroe County residents have died after being infected.
At the state level, coronavirus.ohio.gov reports that there have been 1,476 total cases with 1,357 recoveries and 46 deaths associated with the virus.
“(Active cases) are slowly increasing”, Robin Grover, public information officer at the Monroe County Department of Health, said. “We have our first booster injection clinic on Thursday. They can come in. We prefer that they call, because a lot of the calls we get are not from people who meet specific state criteria. This is a fairly specific list of those who qualify.
“Thursday is our third dose clinic. It is not the same as a booster. The boosters would be for other people once they approved it for people who do not have the immunocompromised ”, Grover added. “The clinic will be in the health department at 118 Home Ave, Woodsfield, by appointment only.”
She said residents can call 740-472-4299 to schedule a third dose for those who meet the criteria.
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