More Ohioans are getting COVID-19 booster shots than are seeking first doses of the vaccine, despite nearly 40% of the eligible population not having started an initial vaccine series.
On average more than 21,000 booster shots are being administered each day in Ohio, compared to nearly 6,000 first doses.
The gap between boosters and initial inoculations could widen, now that state and federal health officials Friday expanded eligibility for a booster. Ohio is authorizing anyone who got the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines at least six months ago. Ohioans who got the Johnson & Johnson single-dose shot at least two months ago have been eligible for a booster since Oct. 20.
"There is ample vaccine supply in Ohio for first and second doses, as well as boosters," said Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, Ohio's health director, in a Friday afternoon statement.
More Ohioans are eligible for boosters than first doses
Part of what is driving the trend to boosters is that more people are eligible for boosters at this point than remain unvaccinated. Ohio Department of Health spokesperson Alicia Shoults said 4.8 million Ohioans over the age of 18 were vaccinated at least six months ago, which is the timeline for boosters, compared to 3.6 million unvaccinated residents above the age of 12, as younger children have only just become eligible.
“(Unvaccinated) Ohioans, as you know, are those who may need more time or information before deciding to be vaccinated, and incentives such as Ohio Vax-a-Million didn’t yet incentivize them to be vaccinated,” Shoults said. “Those who have already been vaccinated, however, see the value of the COVID-19 vaccines and are more likely to get their booster, if eligible, particularly in anticipation of the upcoming holiday season.”
Over than 1 million Ohioans have received a COVID-19 booster shot since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended them for older Americans and certain high-risk groups in September. That's more than three times the number of first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that have gone out in the same time period.
The statewide trend is playing out in Southwest Ohio, an Enquirer analysis of state health department data shows.
Nearly 2 of every 3 COVID-19 doses administered in Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren counties during October and November have been boosters, the analysis shows. Put another way, that's 1 of every 4 of the 173,000 fully vaccinated people in the four counties.
As a state, Ohio's rate of booster COVID-19 shots is 20.4%. That's roughly four points above the national rate of 16.6%, according to the most recent data from the CDC.
Canton City Health Commissioner Jim Adams said that, anecdotally, he’s heard concerns from people who are hesitant about getting their first shots that they thought it was going to be a one-and-done vaccination series, despite officials saying from the beginning that boosters may be needed.
"As we've learned with COVID, it's likely we'll need regular boosters for that, that's what it's looking like,” Adams said. “And I think we just kind of accept that as part of the way that it works. Think about something like flu vaccine, which it's not really quite the same, but there are several vaccines that we get on a regular basis in order to get immunity high. It just might be COVID is one of those also.”
Early research has shown that while the effectiveness of the original vaccine series against severe disease and hospitalization has held steady months after vaccination, the protection against infection has waned slightly, particularly as new strains like the delta variant make their way through the population. That’s part of why boosters are recommended.
“Rest assured that boosters are just that – a follow-up dose that bumps up the strong protection enjoyed by those who have completed their primary vaccine series and that those who are vaccinated continue to enjoy high levels of protection against serious leading to hospitalization and death, especially compared with those who remain unvaccinated,” Vanderhoff said earlier in November.
More children eligible for COVID-19 vaccine
Ohio's numbers reflect a nationwide trend of more boosters going out compared to first doses, but that could change, especially as children ages 5 and up are now eligible for vaccination and with a new federal mandate that large businesses and hospitals require employee vaccines.
Since becoming eligible on Nov. 2, more than 92,000 Ohio kids ages 5 to 11 have started the vaccine series. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has inoculated more than 3,000 children and will hold its first Sunday vaccine clinic on Nov. 21 at its Liberty campus in Butler County.
"Kids are a critical part of this; they are members of families and communities and we have to talk about their vaccination rates and make strategies to help improve that vaccination rate," Dr. Sara Bode of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus said at a Nov. 12 news conference. "It's just as important as when we rolled it out with adults."
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