ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Another round of COVID-19 vaccine for Belmont County’s seniors is planned for today, but lack of communication from those wanting the vaccine has hampered the health department’s efforts.

Belmont County Deputy Health Commissioner Robert Sproul made his Wednesday report to the board of commissions, including plans to conduct another vaccination clinic today.

Because of the extreme cold weather, the clinic will be held indoors rather than as a drive-through event as in prior weeks.

“We have the clinic scheduled for Thursday. This time it’s going to be a walk-up,” Sproul said. “We’re going to move it inside. When the weather is better we’ll move back to the drive-through. The public seemed to like that.”

Sproul is expecting a busy day, with some in the earlier 1A group, including health workers who are in close contact with infected people, receiving their second doses this morning while 200 seniors in group 1B will receive their first dose of the vaccine. They will need a second dose in about 29 days.

Sproul said the state has expanded the age range of people eligible for the vaccine to 65 years old and older, but in Belmont County priority is still being given to those 70 and older.

“We’re still dealing with a large number of 75 and above, so we’re going to hold that group for another week,” he said.

Next week, Sproul expects to receive 400 doses of the Moderna version of the vaccine for first dose vaccinations.

“We’re also giving the second doses as we receive them,” he said. If larger numbers of vaccines are received, the health department may establish two clinics per week.

One issue that complicated last week’s vaccine day was residents who were registered with the department but had gotten their shot from other vaccine providers and did not inform the health department

“We’re still having a hard time scheduling first-dose clinics,” Sproul said. “For every 400 people we’re calling, we’re getting 200 that have been received, so it’s taking a large amount of time from our office. Again, we’re asking for the public’s cooperation. Let us know if you’ve got the shots.”

The phone number for the health department is 740-695-1202. If residents are having difficulty getting through via phone, Sproul asks that they email the health department. The email address is Bchd@belmontcountyhealth.com.

In answer to a question from Commissioner Jerry Echemann, Sproul said it would be some time before his office would be able to make an open clinic.

“That’s in the future, but we’re still sitting on 7,000 people on our registration list,” Sproul said.

In his report of Belmont County’s cases, Sproul noted the number of active cases have been decreasing. In answer to a question from Commissioner Josh Meyer, Sproul said he could not say if this is indicative of a cycle in the virus, such as the waxing and waning of the flu virus.

There have been 5,129 total cases in Belmont County since the pandemic’s onset, with 478 people in isolation with active cases. There have been 4,501 recoveries, 58 people are hospitalized and 92 people have died after being infected with the virus in Belmont County.