COLUMBUS, Ohio — Officials are optimistic that with 400,000 to 500,000 vaccine doses expected each week in March, possibly rising later in the spring, the state will be able to have “full” fairs beginning in June, Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday morning.
The state’s guidance will require social distancing for the grandstands, where capacity will be 30%, and signs must be posted throughout the fairs regarding masks, according to officials.
The governor, speaking at a large vaccine clinic at an old JC Penny in Springfield, said he is looking forward to a spring and summer that will be very different than last year.
“We expect to have full county fairs this year. You’ll have to wear a mask and you’ll have to be careful, but the county fairs should take place throughout the state of Ohio,” DeWine said.
He said the spread of more contagious variants in Ohio necessitates continued masking, but he said he is still excited that fairs will be able to go on with fewer restrictions than last year.
“It’s good to be on offense,” DeWine said. “We have to continue though, as we are on offense, to also stay on defense, and the defense is the mask. For the next few months we’re going to have to continue to stay wearing these masks.”
The governor clarified Thursday afternoon at his news conference that this guidance is based on the case numbers today, and it is subject to change if the pandemic significantly improves.
“That is the way it looks today,” DeWine said. “It certainly is possible that by the time we get to the second month of fairs, or even possibly the first month of fairs in June, we may be off the health orders. We don’t know.”
After the fair guidance is released, the state will follow up in the next few days with the rules for graduations, proms, festivals and parades, DeWine said.
With vaccines coming into Ohio more quickly, the state will announce in about a week the next phase of vaccination, he said. However, he said it might take “a while” to make the next jump because residents 50 and older is a large population.
The governor said Ohio administered more than 50,000 first-dose shots on Wednesday.
