CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from March 26, 2021.
On Thursday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine revealed that the state's coronavirus (COVID-19) online portal would begin to allow everyone in the state age 16-years-old and older to sign up as soon as this weekend.
RELATED: More coronavirus coverage from WKYC
As it turns out, Gov. DeWine was ahead of schedule.
On Friday, the state's COVID-19 vaccine portal, which can be found here, began allowing all users age 16-years-old and older to schedule appointments to receive the vaccine. As of 12:15 p.m. ET on Friday, there were appointments available for Saturday at the mass vaccination site at the Wolstein Center on Cleveland State's campus.
While Ohioans 16-years-old and older aren't scheduled to be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine until Monday, March 29, DeWine announced earlier this week that he had authorized vaccine providers to allow anyone age 16-years-old and older to receive the vaccine if they had unfilled appointments. Currently, adults age 40-years-old and older, as well as those with qualifying pre-existing conditions and occupations are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Ohio.
"Earlier this week, I announced that the COVID vaccine providers who were having difficulty filling appointments for this week with currently eligible groups could schedule Ohioans age 16 years old and older for these appointments," DeWine said on Thursday. "To support these providers, beginning this weekend, we have simplified our portal, our registration process on our GetTheShot.Coronavirus.Ohio.Gov website. We have simplified it to reflect the fact that those age 16-years-old and older are now eligible."