BELLAIRE — Belmont County residents who live near the Ohio River were vaccinated against COVID-19 close to home in Bellaire Wednesday.

Health department staff were at the Salvation Army, then the high school. Bellaire Local Schools Superintendent Darren Jenkins said about 22 students ages 16 and 17 had signed up for shots, along with several 18-year-olds.

“We were very surprised and pleased with the level of interest among our kids,” he said. “We’re looking at 30-35 students today who are interested in getting the vaccine.”

Jenkins said about eight staff members who had elected not to be vaccinated during an earlier clinic for teachers also received shots. He said the vaccines are lifting an emotional and mental “cloud” with the promise of normalcy.

“The anxiety level is lessened,” he said, adding the district will modify graduation and prom. “Those kinds of activities that we took for granted, that did not appear a year ago, will probably occur this year barring any unforeseen circumstances. We’re making modifications to them, of course.”

Jenkins said an outdoor graduation at Nelson Field is likely.

“We’re going to have to set up two venues, because we can’t really count on the weather,” he said. An outdoor event will not have limited attendance. “We’re crossing our fingers Memorial Day will be nice.”

Graduation is at 2 p.m. May 30, according to the district website.

For prom from 6-11 p.m. May 8, staff will take student’s temperatures at the door. Dates from outside the district are permitted.

“We have protocols for them — questionnaires. … We’re optimistic we can make it fly. We submitted our plan to the Belmont County Health Department for approval.”

Belmont County Deputy Health Commissioner Robert Sproul had said more than 250 vaccines were available at Bellaire, with more than 70 for students and staff. The Moderna version of the vaccine was administered to adults, while the Pfizer BioNTech version approved for recipients younger than 18 was saved for students.

Sproul said his office asked the state for more Pfizer. He added he will know how many people were vaccinated in Bellaire sometime today.

The regular weekly vaccination clinic will be held 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at the Ohio Valley Mall, with 800 second doses to be administered and 300 first doses available.

Sproul on Wednesday also reported one of the county’s youngest deaths associated with the virus, a man in his 40s. This is the 115th Belmont County resident who died after contracting the virus. The majority of deaths following infection with COVID-19 have been among older residents.

“He did have previous health conditions,” Sproul said of the latest fatality. “He sounds like about the youngest I remember. … He had multiple comorbidities.”

Sproul said there have been 5,965 confirmed cases among Belmont County residents since the pandemic’s onset, with 295 people now in isolation at home with active cases or hospitalized, 5,555 recoveries and 115 deaths.

Sproul said there has been a slight decrease in active cases. There were 12 new cases since Tuesday and only nine during the weekend.

“Our numbers are slowing down, which is good. We hope that that trend continues. The ones we’re getting, it does include some students, but again the cases are throughout the county. There’s no specific pockets. It’s not like it’s happening all in Barnesville or all in Bellaire or all in St. Clairsville. It’s spread throughout the county.”

Sproul said most of the spread seems to be occurring within family groups.