CINCINNATI — Cincinnati city leaders joined together Tuesday to urge people to get vaccinated.
Mayor John Cranley and Mayor-elect Aftab Pureval – along with Health Commissioner Melba Moore and City Manager Pamela Boggs Muething – held a press conference on Tuesday to talk about the need for people to be protected against COVID-19 ahead of the holidays.
Moore said her staff has given over 800,000 vaccines over the last year. She said among people who have been vaccinated in Cincinnati, there have been six deaths and 52 were hospitalized – 48 were variant cases. She said this was out of a total of over 42,000 hospitalizations in the city this year from the virus.
"Ninety-percent of the people who get COVID and were vaccinated do not go to the hospital," Cranley said.
Cranley said he doesn’t expect any more mask mandates to be implemented in Cincinnati; however, he said he can’t rule that out either.
That decision would likely come from the new administration, which will start next year.
Aftab Pureval will be sworn in as Mayor January 4.
Pureval asked people to social distance and continue wearing masks indoors. He called it a matter of personal responsibility.
“I think there is a level of frustration that we are where we are today. I can certainly say there is a level of fatigue amongst essential workers,” said Pureval.
"If you want to be true to that holiday sentiment, I'm asking you to get vaccinated, to get boosted," Pureval said. "Because we can, as a community, fight against this pandemic, strengthen our economy and strengthen our schools. We can't do this if people don't have personal accountability."
Muething said 70 percent of city employees are currently vaccinated. Moore said around 60 percent of the city population is vaccinated. She also said 69% of the region is vaccinated.
The city reported 128 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday. The health department reported its first case of the omicron variant on December 12. Omicron is now the dominant variant in new cases across the country. Ohio is also leading the country in the percentage increase of the most new COVID cases in a single day.
“The single most important thing that all of us can do … is get vaccinated. Second thing, get the booster,” said Cincinnati Health Commissioner Melba Moore.
Moore said respecting people's personal decisions is important when trying to convince people to take precautions against COVID-19, especially as omicron becomes more dominant.
"It's a critical balance," Moore said. "It's about respecting people and letting them make that decision. I don't know how many people have driven a stick shift, but it's like being able to balance and using the gas. It's about people not pushing but being able to connect."
For a list of COVID-19 vaccine locations, visit the Hamilton County website.
