98% of 2021 COVID hospitalizations in Ohio are unvaccinated, DeWine says

Gov. Mike DeWine said Friday that Ohio is at a "new stage of the pandemic" where vaccinated Ohioans are safe from the surging delta variant of the coronavirus while unvaccinated are not (Source: “’We’re at a new stage of the pandemic:' 98% of Ohioans hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated,” Columbus Dispatch, Aug. 6).

Of the 18,662 people with COVID-19 hospitalized since Jan. 1 in Ohio, 98.4% were not fully vaccinated, the Ohio Department of Health reported Friday. The agency plans to report that number every Thursday.

“The name of the game today is vaccines. This is where we win. This is where we don’t win,” DeWine said at his first COVID-19 briefing in six weeks. “We have two Ohios. We have people who are vaccinated who are very, very safe today. We have people who are vaccinated who are not safe and are more in peril because of this delta variant.”

But DeWine doesn't plan to mandate masks or issue other health orders to stem the latest surge. And while he hasn't ruled out more state incentives to get vaccinated, the Republican governor didn't announce one on Friday.