Gov. DeWine visits Schottenstein Center, promotes COVID-19 vaccine for college students

Gov. Mike DeWine talks with press and Ohio State President Kristina M. Johnson and student leaders, including incoming Student Body President Jacob Chang, after visiting with students receiving COVID-19 vaccines. Credit: Max Garrison: Asst. Campus Editor

Gov. Mike DeWine visited Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center Monday to speak with students receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and promote the efforts to vaccinate college students, whom the state is providing priority access starting Monday.

DeWine was joined by first lady Fran DeWine, Ohio State President Kristina M. Johnson, Chief Medical Officer for the Wexner Medical Center Dr. Andrew Thomas, Senior Vice President for Student Life Melissa Shivers and a group of student leaders — including incoming Student Body President Jacob Chang. The group spoke about the importance of student vaccinations amid another increase of COVID-19 cases in the state.

Ohio has seen an increase in cases in the past several weeks, with more than 1,000 cases per day since March 21, according to the Ohio Department of Health website.

“We are seeing an uptick in cases and the concern we have, of course, is not just the case numbers, but that these are one of the variants, which are more contagious,” DeWine said.

Thomas said more than one in four Ohio State students have received their first dose of the vaccine or have an appointment set up. DeWine announced Thursday the state would make vaccinating all college students a priority and provide vaccination sites on campuses.

Johnson said Ohio State is increasing its surveillance COVID-19 testing to twice weekly for all students as the university returns from its second instructional break.

“We just had a reading break last week for a couple days, so, we’ll be vigilant,” Johnson said. “And then as it goes down again, we’ll go down to test once a week.”

Although young people may have lower risks of complications due to the virus compared to those in older age groups, this should not prevent college students from getting the shot, DeWine said.

“The numbers are going up among our young people and we also know we are seeing some young people that are ending up in hospitals, so that is not a no-risk situation,” DeWine said.

Chang, a third-year in political science and psychology, said students should consider getting vaccinated to protect older people, as well as themselves.

“I’m really excited to see Ohio State phasing back to in person because in the past year, this social distancing, quarantining has caused a lot of damage for mental health,” Chang said. “I really want to go back to how the Ohio State community used to be, so please get a vaccine and still keep social distance and one day.”