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Harrison Health department to hold second dose clinic Friday

CADIZ — Although COVID-19 vaccine delivery is delayed, the Harrison County Health Department will still hold its second dose clinic Friday.

County health department Administrator Garen Rhome gave his weekly update regarding the coronavirus in the county during Wednesday’s Harrison County Board of Commissioners’ meeting. Rhome said there will not be a delay for the second dose clinic. The county plans to administer the second dose of the Pfizer version of the vaccine to residents who received their first dose on Jan. 29. Approximately 240 residents 75 and older will receive their second dose Friday, he said.

“We are absolutely still on for our second doses this Friday for the drive-through clinic at Sally Buffalo,” he said.

Rhome said the health department will only be administering the second dose vaccines during Friday’s clinic. Due to the inclement weather, there was a delay in the department’s expected delivery of the vaccine, so it will not be able to administer any first doses this week. He said officials will resume administering first doses next week.

Rhome also explained why the county remains in the red, or Level 3, category on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System. Due to the county’s number of reported cases in the past two week timeframe, it ranks 28th in occurrence rate in the state. Between Feb. 1 and 14, the county had 46 new cases, which makes its occurrence rate 306 cases per 100,000, he said.

“It doesn’t sound like a lot of cases, but in the scope of a population of 15,000, it is a high occurrence rate,” he said.

The county reported its 19th COVID-19 related death Wednesday — an individual in their 90s. There have been a total of 995 reported cases, 917 presusumed recoveries, 19 deaths and 59 active cases, as of Wednesday according to Rhome.

In other news, a series of guardrails will be installed on multiple county roadways in the coming months.

County Engineer Doug Bachman opened four bids for the impending project during Wednesday’s meeting. He said all of the bids came in under the county’s estimated cost of $400,000. The bids include:

– Cuyahoga Fence of Mayfield Heights, Ohio — $312,823;

– Lake Erie Construction of Steubenville — $318,345;

– M.P. Dory of Columbus — $352,657;

– PDK Construction of Pomeroy, Ohio — $317,000.

The project includes the installation and replacement of more than 12,500 feet of guardrail located on three county roadways including Harrison County Road 2, 17 and 39, Bachman said.

“It’s about 50/50 — about 50 percent will be installing new guardrail and 50 percent will be replacement,” he said.

The county secured a $300,000 grant through the Federal Highway Administration in November. The grant covers 100 percent of the project cost up to $300,000. The county will be responsible for the remainder of the cost.

Bachman said he will review the bids and make a recommendation at next week’s meeting. Bachman’s recommendation must then be approved by the Ohio Department of Transportation, which is the administrator of the funding.

Once the bid has been approved through ODOT then the project can get underway. Bachman said although there is not a set start date, he is hoping to begin work in the next couple of months. The contractor will have 90 days from the start of the project to complete the work, he said.

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