Direction Home of Eastern Ohio, once known as the Area Agency on Aging is identifying individuals in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, and Ashtabula counties, people who are truly homebound, who wants to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The home service is not for elderly who can't drive or who don't have transportation.

"They may need a stretcher or ambulance or multiple people to help them get out of bed. If an older person is having difficulty finding transportation we are able to assist them with finding a transportation option. This is for people who]truly can not get out to one of the clinics," said Cassandra Valentini, Community Liaison for Direction Home of Eastern Ohio.

Over the past two weeks Trumbull County Combined Health District has had firefighter/paramedics, who are licensed, begin administering the Johnson and Johnson one dose vaccine with prefilled syringes. The department had set aside some of the one dose vaccine it had for people who are homebound since it only requires one shot.

Frank Migliozzi, Health Commissioner for Trumbull County Combined Health District said, "We will have someone to prepare the vaccine for them, they will come here pick it up and transport it to that individual's household in their community."

Mahoning county is still working on it's mass vaccination clinics and is planning on how to help people homebound. People who are homebound are being advised to speak with their case manager or primary care physician to help arrange a home visit. Direction Home is also assisting Mahoning County's Health Department get people vaccinated.

In Columbiana County plans in the early states are to wait until the county receives more of the one dose Johnson and Johnson COVID0-19 vaccine.

Laura Fauss Columbiana County Health District Personal Information Officer emphasized, "That's the easiest one to transport, so ideally when we get our next allocation of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which we have not been told when that is, we will look at using that vaccine for our homebound populations."

Representatives from all health departments tell WFMJ news they will be working to make sure they're not wasting any vaccine, and will make sure they follow the strict temperature transportation guidelines.