The shots are for children 6 months to 5 years old. These pediatric vaccines will expand eligibility to nearly 20 million additional children. These will be doses that are much smaller than those given to adults. And children under 3 years of age need to get the shot at the health department or at a physician’s office.

The Lima City School Board held a special meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the making policy in the district. Following the recommendation of their Director of Nursing and the Allen County Health Department, they voted to lift the mandate. The policy change will begin on Wednesday, and masks are no longer required for district transportation, school events, or in school. People can still wear masks if they choose to do so.

Allen County continues to meet the CDC definition of a high transmission community. With only around 37 percent of the population being vaccinated against COVID-19, the county’s greatest concern is for those who are not. Although the mask mandate ended in the state, a mask advisory has come back to Allen county to help slow down or stop the spread of COVID and its variants. The health department says that the guidelines will be ever-changing as new information continues to develop. 

The parade's committee, along with the Allen County Health Department and city administrators, have made the decision to cancel it again this year. Co-Chair of the Lima Irish Parade Committee, Darby Bourk, says the bottom line of the difficult decision was the public's safety.

The county moves back to red after being in Orange Level 2 since August 13th, 2020. According to the Allen County Health Department, the county has been experiencing very high coronavirus exposure and spread. The numbers have led to the county meeting 4 data indicators in the Ohio Public Health Advisory System as of October 22nd, 2020.

After getting approval from the Allen County Health Department, the Summerfest Committee will host their fireworks show this weekend, in partnership with the Spencerville Chamber of Commerce. Since they were unable to do much fundraising this year, the committee reached out to local businesses for help. It was then that the village’s American Legion and VFW Bowersock Brother Post 6772 donated enough to fully pay for the fireworks display.

Many universities across the country are preparing to open their campus once again since being shut down at the start of the pandemic. With help from the Allen County Health Department, the Bluffton University has created a plan to manage the threat of the virus on campus.

As information continues to flood the media about the Coronavirus, the potential for unfounded fears surrounding the virus begin in Ohio, but the state is remaining proactive in the outbreak. Governor Mike DeWine held a press conference that should put a halt to some of those fears of the virus spreading through Ohio. As of right now, dangers of the virus are not nearly as high in the United States and especially in Ohio than they are overseas, but DeWine wants people to keep a close watch on how the disease evolves.