WOODSFIELD — Teachers and staff of the Switzerland of Ohio Local School District will soon receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Monroe County Health Department will begin vaccinating the school’s teachers and staff, along with residents aged 70 and older this week. Linda Masters, administrator of the county health department, said the district will provide the health department with a list of teachers and staff who want to receive the vaccine. Masters said she is unsure how many of the school’s staff and teachers will be inoculated during this week’s clinic.

Masters said vaccine registration has now opened up to residents in the 65-69 age group, however, the department will continue vaccinating those aged 70 and older for the time being.

“We’ve opened up our registration to 65 and older, but we’re still working through the 70 and older groups. We haven’t completed that list yet from the vaccine allotment we’ve been able to get,” she said.

Masters said they are expecting to receive around 100 doses this week but are hoping for more. She said the state cut back on dosages for the general population in order to help supply vaccinations for the schools.

“We’re waiting until Tuesday to see what we get before we start calling and scheduling people” for the clinic, she said.

The department held another appointment-only clinic Friday at the Monroe County Fairgrounds, where more than 200 residents received their second dose of the vaccine. Masters said the clinic went smoothly.

“It’s been great. … We’ve gotten a lot better at it. The wait time is minimal — we’re running about 35 cars through every 30 minutes,” she said.

The health department has had a lot of support from members of the community who helped plow snow to allow the clinic to continue, Masters said.

Masters said the department has not had any issues with people not showing up to their vaccination appointments. She said the department was a little concerned with people potentially not wanting to show up for their second dose of the vaccine, but was pleasantly surprised when all the residents did come for their appointment Friday.

The county remains one of four counties in the orange category, or Level 2, of the Ohio Public Health Advisory Map. The Buckeye State’s remaining 84 counties are all red, or Level 3, on the COVID transmission risk assessment. Masters said cases continue to decline in the county. Although she said she’s unsure why the cases have begun to decline, she speculated it could be due to the weather and people tending not to gather as much lately. She added that the vaccinations could also be helping reduce the county’s positive cases. The health department urges residents to continue mitigation efforts to help slow the spread and keep the cases to a minimum.