photo by: Derek Redd (file)

Nurse Dixie Ellwood prepares Tishawana Terry’s arm for a COVID-19 shot late last year at the Ohio County vaccination clinic at The Highlands. Vaccinations will now be held at the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department until further notice.

WHEELING — The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department cited a leveling-off of demand for vaccines as the reason for dialing back services, with vaccine clinics at The Highlands ending for the time being.

COVID-19 vaccinations will be available by walk-in at the health department’s office from 9-11 a.m. and from 1-3 p.m. Monday through Friday, while testing will continue at the former Ohio Valley Medical Center from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Administrator Howard Gamble said the scaling back is due to a reduction in demand and a proliferation of testing available throughout the county, and that talks to begin scaling back began early in February.

“Vaccine demand is still there, but to hold a mass vaccination center, (demand) was decreasing. It was about a month ago that we had this discussion and we’d made it final,” Gamble said. “Decreasing numbers of cases doesn’t really drive vaccinations; people still need to be vaccinated. What we’re changing is the mass vaccination model. … We need to move out of that into offering them here, some other venues still offering them.”

Pulling vaccinations back to the central office allows the health department to rely more on its own staff, and less on contracted staff.

In May 2021, the health department had seen a similar slowing in demand for vaccine, leading to the same decision at that time.

However, Gamble said, the July 4 holiday led to a surge in cases, in addition to the rise of the delta COVID variant. By the start of the autumn school semester, county staff were once again back at their rented location at The Highlands to deliver vaccines en masse.

This time around, though, Gamble said the higher percentage of vaccinated people and a better grasp on COVID safety protocols should mean a better outlook than the last time services were scaled back.

“We have a lot of different things happening — we have a lot more people vaccinated and boosted. We have people who understand the isolation quarantine, if you’re ill, a little better than before, and we have an abundance of testing now,” he said. “Everywhere from in-house at long-term care, to universities, to community clinics…

“I think we’re going to be going into a timeframe of lower disease, not zero, looking for the occasional outbreak or uptick in cases that may be associated with an event, a gathering, or an outbreak at a facility or location.”

Gamble described his attitude as “cautious,” rather than cautious optimism, regarding the immediate future of COVID locally. While cases continue to decline, Gamble warned that the disease will likely outlast the public’s resolve to combat it, and that the good outlook of case numbers may prove to be only a short respite.

“It’s still an infectious disease. It has not been eradicated, has not been eliminated, has not been reduced to the point we’re only seeing sporadic cases,” Gamble said. “… I think, however, we’re seeing good numbers come out of a disease trend, and that may be for just a short time frame.”

He added that many parts of the world still struggle to adequately provide vaccine, and that in our “highly mobile society,” transmission between different areas, including the introduction of new variants, remains a threat. Gamble again advised anyone not vaccinated to get vaccinated, as that would limit transmission and ease efforts to combat the spread of the virus.

“We may be over with COVID, but COVID isn’t over with us,” Gamble said. “The pandemic is still raging. Parts of the globe where we can’t get enough vaccine to. … Things are becoming better here in the United States, and we have people coming and going, and, yes, you can bring variants back and forth.

“I’m very cautious,” he added. “It’s good we’re seeing these cases drop, but for those who aren’t vaccinated, it’s time to make the decision to get it. If not, we’re going to be dealing with this over and over and over.”