CEDARVILLE, Ohio — The state of Ohio continues to broaden eligibility for vaccinations against the COVID-19 pandemic, with more people able to be inoculated as of this Thursday.

“Last week, we announced those 60 years of age and older would be eligible to receive the vaccine as part of Phase 2-A. Today we’re announcing 2-B, and 2-B will take the age down to 50,” said Gov. Mike DeWine said during his Monday talk. He said this has become possible as more vaccines have become available.

“Frankly, we’re still having vaccine left over at the end of the week,” he said, adding the situation among people who are hospitalized with the virus also continues to improve. He said the state is kicking off Phase 1-D, which expands vaccine eligibility to those with Type 2 diabetes and end-stage renal disease.

Anyone with diabetes will then be able to receive the shot.

“Those 50 to 59 years of age total population in Ohio is approximately 1.2 million. End-stage renal disease, those under 50, is about 25,000, and Type 2 diabetes again under 50 is approximately 172,000 … ,” he said. “If everybody 50 and above were vaccinated, you’d knock out 98 percent of the deaths, so making that available as quickly as we can was very, very important.”

Last week vaccine eligibility was also extended to child care providers, corrections officers and law enforcement.

In addition, during his talk on the Ohio Channel DeWine also said a new online tool is up and running to schedule vaccinations.

“The Ohio Department of Health is scheduling appointments through our central scheduling tool,” he said. “It can be accessed by going to gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov.”

He said Ohioans will be able to utilize the site first to determine if they are eligible for vaccination, then to schedule an appointment and receive updates and reminders. Providers are instructed to use this system or another that interfaces with it.

“As of (Monday) morning, there are thousands of appointments available through this tool,” he said. “We encourage more and more providers to get on, just as quickly as they can. … We believe this will streamline the scheduling process.”

The site will also be used in conjunction with the mass vaccination sites around the state that DeWine announced Friday.

DeWine also said the number of Ohioans hospitalized with COVID-19 continues to go down, now at 830.

Bruce Vanderhoff, chief medical officer of the Ohio Department of Health, reported on instances of two new and more infectious mutations of the virus that are now active in Ohio.

“These numbers are entirely consistent with what we’ve been expecting,” Vanderhoff said, adding more cases are likely to arise as spring gives way to summer.

“COVID-19 isn’t giving up, but like other viruses it continues to become more transmissible, more contagious,” he said. “These variants underscore just how important it is for all of us to get vaccinated.”

He also re-emphasized the importance of social distancing, mask wearing and other precautions,

“We really do have the weapons we need to improve our lives this spring,” he said.

“I think people will be happy to have (vaccinations) expanded,” Belmont County Deputy Health Director Robert Sproul said in a text message.

Sproul said there have been 5,374 cases of the virus in Belmont County since the pandemic’s onset, and 182 residents are isolated at home with active cases while 64 are hospitalized. There have been 5,027 recoveries, and 101 people have died after being infected with the virus.