ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont County Health Department had expected to begin a second phase of COVID-19 vaccinations next week, but word was received Wednesday that those shots will be delayed for at least two weeks.

Residents eligible for the vaccine under Phase 1B of the state’s rollout will have to wait longer than anticipated. Belmont County Deputy Health Commissioner Robert Sproul said Wednesday that Gov. Mike DeWine’s office informed him the move to Phase 1B will be delayed by two weeks or more.

During his Wednesday update to the Belmont County Board of Commissioners, Sproul said there has been a high demand for the shots statewide. He said his department continues to work through the groups in Phase 1A, which includes nursing home residents and staff, hospital workers and first responders. Sproul said vaccinations in that group are scheduled through this week and into the weekend.

“It’s a pretty big group. The problem is when we move to 1B, 1B is 65 and over, and Belmont County’s population is over 40 percent 65 and over, and all school staff, and anybody with a very serious health condition,” Sproul said. “It’s going to be a much harder task for us than for some other counties.”

He added the state is receiving about 100,000 doses weekly and continues to hope for more. To further complicate matters, those who have received their first dose must have a second in about 28 days.

Sproul said the Health Department has been receiving about 100 doses per week.

“We’re going to be coming up on our second-dose time here soon,” he said. “Unitil we start getting 5,000 doses at a time, it’s kind of tough to make a big dent.”

He referred to a report from DeWine earlier this week in which the governor said about 40 percent of nursing home staffers statewide were opting to take the vaccine. That trend holds true locally.

“It’s been lower than what we wanted,” Sproul said. “I don’t have an exact number, but it’s lower than what we were anticipating. … All across the board, there’s some people who are still reluctant.”

Sproul said there have been no issues or adverse reaction so far among those who have been vaccinated in Belmont County.

By contrast, the 1B group is enthused about the vaccine.

“A large group in that sector definitely do want it,” he said.

Sproul said his department has stopped taking call-in appointments, adding that a new phone number will have to be set up for people wishing to be vaccinated in the Phase 1B group.

Since the announcement this week that the health department was scheduling appointments for vaccinations, the department’s phone lines have been overwhelmed with requests for appointments. Sproul said anyone who has left a message and provided their information does not need to call again to check.

“It was a huge, overwhelming call-in,” he said. “We have seven lines and they’ve been solid. … We haven’t been able to call out to contact positives, so it’s been making it tough on us to get the regular work done.

“We’re hoping to move to a different location and different number with a much larger phone bank,” he said. “Just so we can handle the call influx.”

Meanwhile, Sproul and his staff continue to prepare.

“We’re not going to be sitting around the next two weeks. We have a lot of people, additional volunteers, additional volunteer nurses, so we’re really looking at reaching out to those people, getting them trained.

“We’ve contacted all the schools. They’re giving us a list of their employees, a list of applicant information. As soon as we get green-light we will be ready to go,” Sproul said. “So we’ll know how many doses we’ll need for each school.”

The health department is in contact with WVU Medicine Barnesville Hospital and the new owners of East Ohio Regional Hospital, which is expected to reopen this year.

Sproul reminds the public that the Ohio National Guard will hold free testing 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the Ohio University Eastern parking lot. For convenience of participants, those who are tested will receive a serial number to check their results online. Results could be available four days after testing.

Since the onset of the pandemic, there have been 4,002 positive cases in Belmont County. There are now 1,006 residents in isolation at home with active cases and another 35 hospitalized, while 2,883 people have recovered. Seventy-eight residents have died after being infected with the virus. Sproul said the latest to die were three men in their 60s, 70s and 80s.