Governor announces long-term mass vaccination site in Cleveland; over a dozen other clinics named across Ohio

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The Ohio governor and Federal Emergency Management Agency, under the support of President Joe Biden’s administration, announced a mass vaccination site will be established in Cleveland.

The eight-week mass COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center will have the ability to administer approximately 6,000 vaccinations a day.

• Pfizer vaccine offered during the first three weeks of operation
• A yet-to-be-determined brand of the vaccine will be administered during the final two weeks of operation

Doses administered at the Wolstein Center will be in addition to Ohio’s regular statewide shipments that arrive on a weekly basis.

The Wolstein Center was selected by the federal agency based on the proximity to a large portion of Ohio’s vulnerable citizens. Approximately 1.1 million Ohioans who are 60 years and older reside in Northeast Ohio, according to the governor’s office.

“Now that the supply of vaccine is significantly increasing, this is the perfect time for a large-scale clinic in Ohio to bolster our work to get shots in arms quickly, efficiently, and equitably,” Gov. DeWine said.

Appointments are not yet being accepted for the clinic, which will launch on March 17, but the focus will remain on those who are currently eligible under the Ohio Department of Health’s guidance.

Cuyahoga County officials are working to provide free bus passes and subsidized ride-share service for people who need transportation to the Wolstein Center.

Cleveland area clergy are ecstatic that 300,000 doses of the vaccine will be available in Cuyahoga County as a result of this mass vaccination site, but they do worry about several major barriers including registration since 25% of minorities in the area don’t have access to the computer and may also not trust the process.

Bishop Larry Macon, Sr. is the Senior Pastor at Mt. Zion Church and the President of United Pastors in Mission, “We’re trying to get the right message out and tell people don’t listen to misinformation. Listen to the science and the truth about what needs to happen. We will try to work with the administration to make sure that what they are doing is tailored to our city.”

Senior Pastor Aaron Phillips of Sure House Baptist Church and the Executive Director of the Cleveland Clergy Coalition says, “We will help trying to provide transportation using our church vans and church busses. We absolutely will do that and we will do what we can from the church community to help our people get registered.”

Cleveland 19 has learned that a phone line will also be set up to register that way, as well as in-person at some point.

In addition to the Wolstein Center site, Gov. DeWine said more than a dozen permanent and mobile clinic will be open in the weeks to come.

• 2 pop-up mass vaccination sites, expected to open for three or four days with approximately 12,500 vaccine doses each
• 11 permanent sites expected to open in the last week of March
• 4 mobile vaccination clinics

The exact locations of the supplemental clinics was not provided by Gov. DeWine.

The announcements came after the governor toured a vaccine clinic in East Cleveland on Friday morning, just hours after his prime-time address on Thursday where he said if daily COVID-19 cases drop below a specific number, all statewide health orders would be dropped.

Currently, there are more than 1,200 COVID-19 vaccine providers throughout Ohio in addition to the numerous pop-up vaccination sites regularly held by the state and local-level health departments.

The governor is expected to provide more details about the site plans during a 1 p.m. press conference.

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