The Wolstein Center Mass Covid Vaccination Operation Closes Up Shop After Next Weekend

What a difference three months make.

When the Wolstein Center mass vaccination site was first announced, Ohio was only administering shots to those over age of 60, with qualifying health issues, or who worked in certain professions.

By the time it went online on St. Patrick's Day, the age threshold had been lowered to 40, the same day Gov. Mike DeWine announced that all Ohioans would qualify to get the shot come March 29th.

Appointments were scooped up and hunted as demand far outpaced supply. Then, a few weeks after the floodgates opened and all Ohioans were able to get their jab, things became less frenzied. Appointments were readily available. Demand dwindled. Wolstein started offering walk-in vaccines as its 12-week timetable wound down. Gov. Mike DeWine announced an end to the Covid health orders. The state retired its color-coded public health alert system. The springtime push ended, the numbers improved.

And now the FEMA-backed Wolstein Center operation is set to close on June 7, some 255,000 efficiently delivered doses later.

Open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., the Wolstein Center will continue administering shots until then, walk-ins welcome. Anyone who receives their first Pfizer dose there will be scheduled for the follow-up shot at a local Discount Drug Mart.

While data continues to improve, there's still plenty of work to do: Only 50% of Cuyahoga County residents have either started or finished their vaccinations.