Dr. Steve Martin, dean of the College of Pharmacy at Ohio Northern, says that around 30 to 50 million people are expected to get the flu every year. He recommends to help with those numbers, people 6 months and older should get out and receive the flu shot, especially as this flu season looks like it may be a rough one for some people.

The university will be changing their definition of "Fully Vaccinated" to "Up to Date Vaccination" to take into account of students getting their booster shots. At the end of the fall semester, 82% of the students were fully vaccinated. Those students who are not vaccinated will have to be tested before they can return to school and will be tested regularly during the semester. The omicron variant has caused ONU concern. They have been fully in-person learning since August 2020 and university officials want to see that trend continue.

As COVID-19 cases rise in the state of Ohio due to the Omicron variant, local officials suspect that it has reached the county.  Allen County Public Health states that while there has not been medical confirmation on a Omicron case in the county, they suspect that it has reached the area. 

Health officials in Ohio say two cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the state. The Ohio Department of Health said the presence of the new variant was confirmed following genomic sequencing at the Ohio State University laboratory. Officials said the two adult males in central Ohio who tested positive Dec. 7 had both received two COVID-19 vaccine doses but hadn't gotten a booster. Both had mild symptoms that didn't require hospitalization; neither had a history of international travel. Health Director Bruce Vanderhoff said people shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the earlier delta variant "continues to drive cases and hospitalizations very high."