COLUMBUS, Ohio — As Ohio continues to increase its coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination numbers, Governor Mike DeWine has made a significant announcement regarding the state's employees at nursing homes and long-term facilities.
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At a press briefing on Monday to address the state's response to the pandemic, DeWine revealed that employees at nursing homes who are fully vaccinated for the coronavirus will no longer be required to be tested for the virus, as they were previously. Meanwhile, employees who remain unvaccinated will be required to undergo coronavirus testing twice a week.
DeWine reiterated that a person is considered to be fully vaccinated two weeks after he or she receives his or her second dose of the Moderna vaccine, second dose of the Pfizer vaccine or the sole shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
"We hope that this change will give encouragement to those who work in nursing homes and have not been fully vaccinated yet to take advantage of the opportunity to be vaccinated," DeWine said. "This is something that we have continued to do and that is to provide vaccines to all of our nursing homes so that someone who comes in and is a new resident or someone who comes in and is a new employee, that they can be vaccinated. The same is true for somebody who is a resident who chose not to get vaccinated and they changed their mind and the same is true for an employee who had an opportunity to be vaccinated the first time but passed that up."
You can watch Gov. DeWine's full press briefing in the video player below.