Ohio, Marshall Counties Begin Next Step in Vaccinations

Ohio and Marshall counties are wasting no time moving down the COVID-19 vaccination alphabet.

One day after vaccinations for healthcare workers at Wheeling Hospital -- West Virginia's Phase 1A -- began, the Wheeling-Ohio County and Marshall County health departments started Phase 1B, inoculating city workers in departments like public works, emergency responders, first responders and public health workers.

WOCHD Administrator Howard Gamble said the department received 100 doses and will vaccinate workers over four days. The department will get another supply when the first supply is exhausted.

"Hopefully, we'll get everyone we can and get resupplied for the next round, whether that's additional first responders or they go deeper into that phase list that (Gov. Jim Justice) put out," Gamble said.

Phase 1C includes other health care workers (non-emergency or acute hospital staff), clinics and higher risk settings, home health and hospice workers. Gamble said his health department received its vaccine shipment Tuesday, but had scheduled vaccinations starting Wednesday to allot for any hiccups in the system that would have delayed the shipment.

County health departments have had to squeeze a lot of learning into a short time period when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, Gamble said. There's figuring out the new federal vaccine system, then learning about the new vaccine itself, as well as getting educated on a new disease management system.

"This is a little bit of a curve," Gamble said. "Everybody has to try and do these all new, as opposed to what we used to do with mass vaccinations."

In a video posted to the Marshall County Health Department's Facebook page, threat preparedness director Mark Ackermann said he was one of a few people at the department to receive the vaccine Tuesday night. All he had felt was some soreness at the injection site that had gone by the morning. He said a couple of others who were vaccinated felt light-headed for a short time, but that subsided.

Gamble said there has been plenty of interest among those in Phase 1A and 1B in getting vaccinated, either because they just trust the science or they know they're in a high-risk category and need protection. He expects to see a little more hesitance when the vaccine is available to the general population, but advised people to talk to their doctors about it.

He does see the vaccine as a crucial step to bringing current COVID numbers to a more manageable level.

"We're not going to eradicate it this year or next year," Gamble said. "But we're going to manage it. And one management system that we have that's brand new is a vaccination program."

Marshall County reported eight new confirmed positive and two probable COVID cases Wednesday night, putting the county's totals at 1,471 confirmed cases, 250 probable cases, 12 hospitalizations and 40 associated deaths. Ohio County reported 21 new positive cases Wednesday, bringing its totals to a total of 2,214 cases and 33 deaths.

Hancock and Brooke counties were "red" on the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Wednesday COVID-19 alert map, while Ohio and Marshall counties were "orange." Hancock had an infection rate of 126.94 cases per 100,000 residents and a percent positivity of 11.07. Brooke had an infection rate of 114.60 cases per 100,000 residents and a percent positivity of 12.21.

Ohio County had an infection rate of 68.30 cases per 100,000 residents and a percent positivity of 7.88, while Marshall County had an infection rate of 63.17 cases per 100,000 residents and a percent positivity of 7.72.