COVID-19 Vaccines Will Be Offered At 90 Locations In Cuyahoga County

People over the age of 80 will be able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at pharmacies, doctors’ offices, hospitals, and community health centers in Cuyahoga County as early as this weekend.

MetroHealth will hold clinics this weekend for its older patients and both University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic will vaccinate older patients starting next week.

MetroHealth has about 400 doses that will be distributed beginning Friday, according to spokesperson Dorsena Drakeford.

The hospital system reached out to patients through its medical records system and all the vaccination slots have been taken, Drakeford said. 

The Ohio Department of Health will announce Friday about 90 sites that will offer vaccines to older residents, said Health Commissioner Terry Allan.

“What you’ll see is a lot of complementary opportunities for people to get vaccinated,” Allan said.

“That variety of options, I think, creates choice for people, and I think that’s good," he said.

These sites will distribute about 15,000 doses of the vaccine for Phase 1B, Allan said.

Phase 1B officially begins on Jan. 19 in Ohio. This group includes people with severe medical conditions, school personnel and individuals aged 65 and older.

Cleveland Clinic will provide vaccines to its eligible patients and will use its patient portal to schedule appointments.

University Hospitals has opened a preregistration portalwhere all people in Group 1B can now pre-register to schedule a vaccine appointment.

Initially, UH will provide all public COVID-19 vaccinations by appointment only at the UH Management Services Center located at 3605 Warrensville Center Rd. in Shaker Heights.

Allan estimates there are 230,000 people in the county who are over 65 and 22,000 K-12 staff members.

Individuals over the age of 80 are first in line in the Phase 1B rollout.

• People age 75 and older and those with specific health conditions such as cerebral palsy will be eligible to receive the vaccine the week of Jan. 25.
• People age 70 and older; employees of K-12 schools who wish to remain or return to in-person or hybrid models will be eligible the week of Feb. 1.
• People age 65 and older can get the shot beginning the week of Feb. 8.

The board of health is working with local senior centers and libraries to get the word out to older adults about where they can get vaccinated and how to sign up, Allan said.

“We know that many seniors may not have access to the internet, and may need assistance to sign up,” he said.

Provider locations in every county in Ohio will be released to the public at 8 a.m. Friday on the Ohio Department of Health’s website.

People can search by their county or zip code to find a vaccine clinic near them.

Gov. Mike DeWine said 100,000 doses will be distributed in the state in Phase 1B.

A provider that will not be on the list is the Cuyahoga County Board of Health itself. The health department still has about 10,000 people to vaccinate in Phase 1A, which includes health care workers and residents and staff of group homes for individuals with developmental disabilities, Allan said.

“We’re gonna hold off to receive the 1B vaccine, until we make a bigger dent here in the 1A process,” Allan said.

People who are eligible can still pre-register to get the vaccine from the health department in an online portal; however, those who want to get vaccinated starting next week should contact the providers to set up an appointment, Allan said.