AP Tyson Foods team members receive Covid-19 vaccines from health officials at the Wilkesboro, N.C. facility

With the number of Ohioans starting the COVID-19 vaccination process at a low point, Gov. Mike DeWine said he was concerned that those not getting inoculated are being lulled into a “false sense of security.”

“We have seen the number of vaccines go down dramatically,” DeWine said Monday.

The Ohio Department of Health reported that as of 6 a.m. Monday, only 5,564 Ohioans had at least started the vaccination process in the previous 24 hours and that 9,147 had completed it during the same time frame.

“The number is very low, the lowest we’ve seen it,” he said. “With that low number, not good. We hope to see a better number tomorrow.”

The numbers have been low for about the past three to four weeks.

The most vaccinations administered in one day in the state was 107,545 on March 31.

The state got its first doses of the vaccine Dec. 14.

DeWine said those not being vaccinated were taking a “high-risk gamble.”

He added Ohio has more vaccinations available than those wanting them.

“If you’re vaccinated, you’ve accomplished a lot for yourself and accomplished a lot for the state,” DeWine said.

“If you’re not vaccinated, you remain high risk,” he said.

There were 4,720,786 people, 40.39 percent of the state’s population, who had at least started getting inoculated as of 6 a.m. Monday, according to the ODH.

In Mahoning County, 39.98 percent of the population (91,430 people) had received at least one dose with 38.1 percent of the population in Trumbull County (75,428 people) and 32.52 percent in Columbiana County (33,136 people) as of 6 a.m. Monday, according to the ODH.

In terms of percentage of residents vaccinated, Mahoning is 16th among the state’s 88 counties while Trumbull is 22nd and Columbiana is 47th.

There were 3,865,403 people, 33.07 percent of the state’s population,who finished the vaccinations as of 6 a.m. Monday.

In Mahoning County, 33.19 percent of the population (75,900 people) had completed the process while 30.64 percent of the population in Trumbull (60,668people) and 27.67 percent of the population in Columbiana (28,195 people) had as of 6 a.m. Monday.

DeWine announced Monday that those vaccinated who work in nursing homes and assisted living facilities will no longer need to be tested for COVID-19.

Those who aren’t vaccinated in those facilities must still be tested twice a week, he said.

COVID-19 DATA

Monday was the 17th straight day Ohio reported fewer than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases, the second-longest such streak since the start of the pandemic.

The state was under 2,000 new daily cases from the start of the pandemic in March 2020 until it reported 2,039 cases Oct. 14.

While COVID-19 cases appear to be leveling off, they’ve been above 1,100 cases 13 of the last 17 days and have been below that only four times: 995 on Monday, 985 on Sunday, 873 on April 25, the prior Sunday, and 1,076 on April 18, also a Sunday. State officials have acknowledged that reporting usually lags on Sundays and Mondays.

But the 1,980 combined cases for this past Sunday and Monday is the lowest for two days in the state since 1,989 were reported March 7 and 8.

The 995 new cases reported Monday was down from the daily average of 1,648 for the past 21 days, according to the ODH.

“We are moving in the right direction in terms of cases,” DeWine said.

The state had a total of 1,075,999 COVID-19 cases as of Monday with 1,024,164presumed recovered.

The ODH provides death information on Tuesday and Friday. There were 19,284 deaths as of Friday.

Mahoning County had 21,378 total COVID-19 cases as of Monday with 20,148 presumed recovered and 585 deaths, according to the ODH.

Trumbull County had 15,951 total COVID-19 cases as of Monday with 14,976 presumed recovered and 463 deaths.

Columbiana County had 8,724 total COVID-19 cases as of Monday with 8,277 presumed recovered and 229 deaths.

The number of cases per 100,000 people in the state is continuing to decline. It was 147.9 per 100,000 Monday compared to 155.6 per 100,000 Thursday.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com

dskolnick@vindy.com