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Vaccines on campus

Gov. Mike DeWine is working to catch college students while they are still on campus, to get them a one-dose COVID-19 vaccine shot from Johnson & Johnson.

With Ohio’s institutions of higher learning getting the chance to offer vaccine clinics for students, an important step is being taken.

Though it is true college students may be more likely to exhibit no symptoms, or to experience mild symptoms when infected, the lower risk to their own bodies does nothing to diminish their ability to transmit the illness.

Their patterns of behavior also tend to make them more likely to be exposed to the illness. College-age individuals tend to socialize frequently, and they are apt to travel. And while they are out for a night on the town, many people of college age choose to partake of alcoholic beverages, meaning that they will have fewer inhibitions and be more likely to forget to exercise appropriate precautions to prevent the spread of the illness.

If the shipment of between 67,400 and 171,900 doses this week is indeed used on college students, it could mean tens of thousands of young people who are no longer a threat to the older or more vulnerable members of their families and communities to which they return in May.

Local health department officials have said they are working to make the governor’s plan a reality.

If you know a college student who can take advantage of this, let them know.

Encourage them to do it not only for themselves, but the rest of us.

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