ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Harrison County is second in the state in terms of its climbing coronavirus vaccination rate with 143 percent more residents receiving the shot in recent weeks.

Gov. Mike DeWine shared the news during his Monday press conference. He also said millions of people have registered for the Vax-a-Million giveaways, where $1 million will be awarded to a vaccinated Ohioan each week for five weeks in a row. The lottery also will award a full scholarship to a state college or university to a vaccinated Ohioan 17 and younger each week during that period. To register visit ohiovaxamillion.com.

DeWine said there has been a 16 percent increase in vaccinations since the lottery program announcement. Athens County leads with an increased of 144 percent. The other top 10 counties are Morgan, Seneca, Wyandot, Miami, Gallia, Lawrence, Fayette and Ross counties.

Garen Rhome, administrator with the Harrison County Health Department, said after DeWine’s announcement of the Vax-a-Million program, the health department’s drive-through clinics had a spike of interest.

“We did see a pretty fair amount of people taking advantage of that opportunity,” Rhome said. “We didn’t conduct any polls asking ‘Did the Vax-a-Million campaign prompt you to get off the fence?’ But it is fair to say in our drive-throughs we have had in the last couple of weeks since that announcement, we did see a pretty good amount of people, considering we’re a smaller county and we don’t do thousands. We do 50 or 100 at a time nowadays, but Harrison saw 143 percent increase in that traffic since the announcement. We’re pleased to be up there, to be counted in that top 10 behind our partners in Athens County.

“People are taking advantage of the opportunities presented them, and maybe Vax-a-Million has something to do with that,” Rhome said.

He said the demographics of those getting vaccinated and contracting COVID-19 are similar to those across the rest of the state.

“I think what we’re seeing is kind of what Ohio as a whole has been seeing over the past month or so, where the vast majority of our cases are unvaccinated individuals, and most of those are in that 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s age-range. Harrison County has vaccinated something close to 75 percent of those aged 65 and older, but like so many other counties or jurisdictions across Ohio, we saw that interest wane or the hesitancy increase, any way you want to look at it, in the middle-age to younger folks,” Rhome said, adding he did not have the exact numbers at hand.

“That’s where we see the majority of our cases,” he said. “Thankfully … the severity of our cases … requiring hospitalizations is down.”

He added there have not been as many vaccinations among those younger than 18 as he would like. The department has reached out to local schools.

Rhome said there are vaccination opportunities.

“We’re going to remain vigilant and flexible, and I want to encourage everybody … to find yourself a provider, talk to your doctor one last time, and be vaccinated,” he said.

A mass vaccination drive-through was held Monday in Harrison County, chiefly for second doses. The Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech shots require two doses that must be administered about 28 days apart. The drive-throughs have been held at Sally Buffalo Park in Cadiz and at the Hopedale Fire Department.

Rhome said Monday was the last mass vaccination drive-through.

“We’re going to be shifting gears to some sort of prescribed walk-in schedule a couple days a week,” he said. “We’re taking a look at how to make it as convenient and as accessible as possible.”

Rhome said 1,127 cases have been confirmed in the county throughout the pandemic, with 1,087 recoveries and 16 people with active cases. He said there are no hospitalizations, and the last count of deaths associated with the virus was 24. Rhome said his office has not tallied coronavirus-related deaths and goes by the state’s tally.

In Belmont County, Deputy Health Commissioner Robert Sproul said there have been 6,353 total cases there, with 183 currently isolated with active cases or hospitalized and 6,052 recovered; 118 residents have died after contracting the virus.

Belmont County had its last mass vaccination clinic at the former Sears building at the Ohio Valley Mall last week and is holding smaller clinics at the mall community room 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. Sproul said 26 people were vaccinated this past Saturday.

At the Monroe County Health Department, Director of Nursing Kara Dixon said the staff has been offering vaccine opportunities.

“We’re doing open clinics. That seems to be doing really well with the working class people,” she said, adding no appointment is necessary. “That’s worked really well for us lately.”

An open clinic is set for 9 a.m. to noon for second doses and 1:30-3:30 p.m. for first doses today at the health department, 118 Home Ave, Woodsfield.

According to the Monroe County Health Department’s Facebook page, there have been a total of 1,334 cases and 1,288 recoveries. There are currently eight active cases, and there have been 38 deaths, but this may be updated today. The numbers recorded by the county typically differ from those provided by the state.