Coronavirus vaccine: Where, when, how do I get it?

OHIO — It’s coming soon. That’s the promise from Alex Azar, US Secretary of Health and Human Services, one of the federal government’s top managers of the response to COVID-19.

In an interview with WHIO-TV, Azar said final federal approval of the Pfizer vaccine is expected in about two weeks.

“We believe we will have enough vaccine for all Americans who want it by the Spring of next year. Now it’s not a moment of time. We are going to be rolling out tens of millions of doses on a weekly basis as we get to that,” Azar said.

Azar’s comments came just as the number of Ohio’s fatalities from the coronavirus went up dramatically Wednesday with 123 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, setting a new record. The Ohio Department of Health also reported 7,835 new cases in that same time period. Meanwhile the state’s positivity rate jumped to 15.1 percent.

The initial doses of the vaccine will be administered to doctors, nurses and nursing home employees. Azar is urging people to take the vaccine when it becomes available to them.

By January or February he said it should be available at local providers.

“Be thinking that your CVS, your Walgreens, your Kroger’s where you shop to get a flu vaccine. That’s where you’ll get your COVID-19 vaccine eventually as supplies increase and get broader,” Azar said.

The Ohio National Guard is currently in training on how to handle the vaccine shipments, which must be kept at a very cold temperature.

Gov. Mike DeWine toured an Ohio Department of Health facility Tuesday where the shipments will be arriving.

“I have great confidence in the National Guard and what they’re doing here. And dividing this up and transport that will go out of here in the smaller communities and smaller counties,” DeWine said.

Initial shipments to larger communities will go directly from Pfizer to the medical facilities where the vaccine will be administered.

Cox Media Group