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Ohio Department of Health reports increase in COVID-19 cases, urges people to get vaccine

By Kelcey Norris Mahoning Matters

December 18, 2023 2:55 PM

Bruce Vanderhoff, director of Ohio Department of Health Mahoning Matters

The number of cases of COVID-19 and upper respiratory infections is increasing across the state, according to Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health.

“We are grateful that our hospitals are not seeing the admission rates and the numbers of severe cases that challenged our health care delivery system in recent years. Nevertheless, case numbers are rising,” he said.

This annual increase in cold-related respiratory infections is expected, and a bit lower than what Ohio physicians saw last year and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What are the current COVID-19 stats in Ohio?

Dr. Vanderhoff said COVID-19 hospitalizations are currently averaging around 450 per week.

Last November, there were about 600 hospitalizations and between 2,000- 3,000 in 2021.

“The good news is that while cases are on the rise, there is still time to get vaccinated, and I’d encourage anyone still on the fence to get out today and get a shot,” said Dr. Vanderhoff. “But this virus is still causing several dozen deaths every week in Ohio. Getting this vaccine, which replaces all previous COVID vaccines and boosters remains your best bet for protection against severe illness.”

COVID-19 vaccine

As of today, about one million Ohioans have received the updated vaccine, around 9.3% of residents.

Dr. Vanderhoff said it’s encouraging that almost 30% of at-risk Ohioans over the age of 65 have been vaccinated for COVID-19, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.

Dr. Vanderhoff said getting the updated COVID-19 shot has shown to protect patients from developing symptoms of long COVID-19.

“We still much to learn about long COVID,” said Dr. Vanderhoff, “ and it can last weeks, months or years. Long COVID occurs more often in people who have suffered a severe COVID-19 illness, but anyone who has had COVID-19 can develop it. People with long COVID In fact report a wide variety of health problems that may emerge, persist, resolved and then reemerge over different lengths of time.”

According to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 28% of people who had contracted COVID-19 reported developing some symptoms of long COVID.

Researchers found that getting a third vaccine reduced the risk of long COVID in adults by 69%.

“Compare that to the risk reduction for those who have had only two shots, just 37%, and it’s clear that third shot provides an important boost in protection against these symptoms,” said Dr. Vanderhoff.