Officials: Variant behind surge

CELINA - Health officials warn the highly contagious delta variant is likely to blame for the increased COVID-19 activity in the area, as 38 new cases reported since Wednesday raised the county's cumulative case count to 4,305.

Mercer County Health District officials in a social media post Monday reported the new cases and said the active number of cases in the county is 69.

District administrator Jason Menchhofer on Monday said cases of COVID-19 in the county have "picked up quite a bit" in recent weeks. Menchhofer said it's safe to say the delta variant is contributing to the uptick in cases in the region.

Although there has been an increase in cases, Menchhofer said the county is fortunate to have only a few hospitalizations due to the virus. Menchhofer said as of Monday morning, he was aware of four or five hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

However, he also noted the number of hospitalizations has been rising. Officials in last Wednesday's report had reported four new hospitalizations in one week, up from one hospitalization the week of Aug. 9.

In addition, Menchhofer said he was happy to see at least one of the COVID-19 vaccines given full approval by U.S. regulators on Monday.

The FDA gave full approval to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Monday. More than 200 million Pfizer doses have been administered in the U.S. under emergency provisions - and hundreds of millions more worldwide - since December.

In going a step further and granting full approval, the Food and Drug Administration cited months of real-world evidence that serious side effects are extremely rare.

Pfizer said the U.S. is the first country to grant full approval of its vaccine. The process required a 360,000-page application and rigorous inspections, a staggering amount of evidence the FDA has never before had to judge a shot's safety.

Moderna has also applied to the FDA for full approval of its vaccine. Johnson & Johnson, maker of the third option in the U.S., said it hopes to do so later this year.

According to the Ohio Department of Health's COVID-19 vaccine dashboard, roughly 33% of Mercer County residents have received at least one dose of vaccine, while only 31% are fully vaccinated.

Menchhofer said staff at the health district are making plans to offer third doses hopefully by the end of this week for people who are immunocompromised soon.

Public health and medical experts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in a statement last week said booster shots for all fully vaccinated Americans will be rolled out the week of Sept. 20.

Americans who received the Pfizer of Moderna vaccine will be eligible to get a booster shot eight months after their second dose.

Menchhofer said district officials are making tentative plans to host at least one COVID-19 vaccine drive-thru clinic for booster shots for fully vaccinated residents.

As of Monday night, ODH reported a cumulative 1,183,761 confirmed and probable cases, 64,351 hospitalizations and 20,689 Ohio resident deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

- The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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