CLEVELAND — More than two weeks after the FDA gave the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine its full approval, it appears the FDA's action did not convince a significant number of Ohioans to get the vaccine.
That FDA approval was announced on Aug. 23. News 5 pulled data from the state’s coronavirus vaccine dashboard to see if vaccinations have gone up since then. You can see from the bar graph below we remained steady in a weekly cycle when it comes to vaccinations.
You’ll notice Ohio tends to see a spike in vaccinations on Fridays, followed by a weekend dip, before numbers jump up again Mondays. On the day of that FDA approval, we did see a spike, but nothing drastic. The number of vaccinations that day was less than 300 higher than the previous Monday spike.
When asked if the state was discouraged by this apparent ongoing vaccine hesitancy in Ohio, Alicia Shoults from the Office of Public Affairs and Communications for the Ohio Department of Health told News 5: "Full approval of this safe, effective COVID-19 vaccine can give Ohioans an added layer of confidence when choosing to be vaccinated."
Visit our Vaccinating Ohio page for the latest updates on Ohio's vaccination program, including links to sign up for a vaccine appointment, a map of nearby vaccination sites, a detailed breakdown of the state's current vaccine phase, and continuing local coverage of COVID-19 vaccines in Northeast Ohio.
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