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Looking to get a COVID-19 vaccine? Hamilton County hosting walk-up clinic today

From staff reports

If you want to get the COVID-19 vaccine but don't want to bother with an appointment, Thursday's your day. Hamilton County will be holding its first walk-up vaccination clinic at its Norwood vaccination clinic, 2300 Wall St.

"We're working really hard to try different methods, keeping people excited about vaccinations," said Health Commissioner Greg Kesterman at the county's weekly pandemic briefing. "If you've been waiting in line, this is a great opportunity."

The health department put a vaccination site in Norwood, centrally located near an expressway and on bus lines, after the county Board of Elections offered some space that it used for early voting in 2020. Health and elections officials last week touted the location as giving residents a change to "vax and vote" in one stop. 

The elections board is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for early voting in the May 4 primary; the walk-up clinic will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Hamilton County Commissioner Alicia Reece outlines how the county has the resources to provide landlords with funds and to prevent further evictions, Tuesday, April 6, 2021, at the Hamilton County Courthouse in Cincinnati.

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Vaccine tracker: Details on the rollout of shots across the Cincinnati region

Kesterman said demand for vaccinations has slowed this week, with reservations filling up slower than in the past so the county is trying the walk-up as a test. 

"If it doesn't work, we'll move on and try a different strategy," he said.

One of those who will be getting vaccinated at tomorrow's event is County Commissioner Alicia Reece, who helped conduct Wednesday's briefing.

Officials with Get Out the Vax, the Cincinnati region's effort to get 80% of the area's adults inoculated by July 4, said last week that walk-ups would be added when supplies of vaccines were big enough and demand was waning.

State and federal reporting shows more than 300,000 or 37% of Hamilton County's population has gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 1 in 4 residents or 23.6% have been fully inoculated.

Kesterman said those attending Thursday's clinic would be scheduled for a second dose.

The commissioner said his department would adapt to any disruptions in vaccinations due to the pause on the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The county had used the one-shot J&J vaccine, sometimes called the Janssen vaccine after the J&J subsidiary that makes it, for homebound patients.

Kesterman said the county would shift to the use of the two-shot Pfizer vaccine for home visits, if the pause on J&J lasts more than a couple of weeks.

To see how many doses have been administered in all of Ohio's counties, see the map below.

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