In Ohio County, Where You Get Second COVID-19 Shot Depends on Where You Got the First

Many people who have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, especially those who were inoculated early in the process, are wondering how they'll receive the second dose to be fully protected.

At least in Ohio County, that will depend on how and where a person got that first dose, according to the county health administrator.

Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department Administrator Howard Gamble said that people who the department vaccinated among the earliest groups, like health care workers and residents age 80 and older, will get phone calls telling them to come get the second dose.

That, Gamble said, is because the site to get that second dose has changed. Rather than returning to the health department office, those people will come to the new county vaccination clinic at the old Michaels building at The Highlands.

"We eventually knew we needed to move our vaccinations from the county health department to somewhere larger," he said. "If we told them to come back to the county (office), we're not going to be there, we're going to be at this center from now on."

Those vaccinated at the two multi-county clinics at the Marshall County Fairgrounds or at the new Ohio County clinic at the Highlands were given a card that tells them to return in 28 days for the second dose. Those vaccinated at the fairgrounds will go back to Moundsville, while those vaccinated at The Highlands will return there.

The new statewide Everbridge online scheduling system may not yet be capable of calling people back for second doses, Gamble said, so those cards are their reminder to return. People who received the first dose, Gamble added, must return to that site of that first dose for the second one.

Gamble also reminded residents that the Everbridge system is just a reservation system. It doesn't automatically guarantee a vaccination date and time. Those who signed up in that system will be notified when a dose is available for them.

"A lot of people assume that, I've called and I've heard that they have it in Ohio County or Brooke County. I didn't get called (for an appointment)," he said. "We just tell them to be patient, eventually you will. The way we put it with people is that they'll be called for a time, a date and a location."

The Marshall County Health Department reported the county's 59th COVID-associated death on Thursday, that of a 61-year-old woman who was hospitalized at the time of her passing. The department also reported 11 new confirmed positive cases and one new probable case, bringing the county's totals to 2,235 confirmed cases, 595 probable cases and seven hospitalizations.

The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department reported 12 new cases Thursday night, bringing that county's totals to 3,596 cases and 64 deaths.

Hancock and Ohio counties were orange, Brooke County was gold and Marshall County was red on the Department of Health and Human Resources COVID-19 alert map Thursday.

In Ohio, the Belmont County Health Department reported 5,050 total cases since the pandemic's beginning, 56 people are hospitalized, and 91 people have died.