Health experts are continuing to urge Ohioans to protect themselves against COVID-19 with the latest vaccines and boosters.

Today in the Morning Briefing, we take a look at the upcoming rollout of the latest round of boosters and what the recommendations are, plus the latest jobs numbers for Dayton and how those fit into wider trends.

If you have thoughts or feedback on this newsletter or other news tips, please let me know at Kyle.Nagel@coxinc.com.

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The newsletter should take about 3 minutes, 42 seconds to read.

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While fewer than 12% of Ohioans got the last COVID vaccine, the CDC is looking ahead at the fall

New COVID, flu and RSV vaccine updates will be released in the fall and the Centers for Disease Control is encouraging people to get one to protect themselves despite the low use in the past year and a half.

• Why it matters: Only 11.8% of Ohioans got the last COVID vaccine update, up from 9.3% in December

• Who should get the updates? The updated CDC recommendations for the COVID vaccine say everyone ages 6 months and older should receive an updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine this fall.

• What are the COVID-19 numbers like now? Ohio reported 83 hospitalizations related to COVID over the last week, up from the three-week average of 72.

DAYTON JOBS: May was good, but 2024 is a dud for job growth so far

Employers in the Dayton region stepped up hiring in May, and the local economy posted its highest monthly job gains since the fall of last year. Reporter Cornelius Frolik dug into the numbers.

• Why it matters: Experts have continued to watch all aspects of the economic situation closely following the COVID-19 pandemic to determine how areas are recovering.

• Not all good news: The local economy overall has lost jobs in the first five months of this year, and the region has cut workers or seen very weak job growth or no gains in about 11 of the last 16 months.

• Across Ohio: Ohio created more than 21,000 jobs in May, which was the state’s best tally since January 2023. The state added nearly twice as many jobs in May as it did the four previous months combined.

What to know today

• One big takeaway: The Dayton Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People called on the Dayton Police Department to release a statement of account for a police shooting that killed 16-year-old Brian Moody last week. Read more about what they’re saying.

• Tip of the day: Try the Ohio Ice Cream Trail. The trail now has 54 stops, including several in this region.

• Quote of the day: “I gotta go (to) three or four different places to get what I want because I have to go to wherever the cheapest is.” — John Jervis, a local shopper who recently was working to find the best deal for cookout materials.

• Stat of the day: $10.3 billion. That’s the amount of the settlement from 3M and DuPont for PFAS and “forever chemicals” contamination. Fairborn, Bellbrook, Dayton and dozens of other municipalities filed a class action lawsuit against 32 companies, including 3M and DuPont over PFAS contamination in 2022.

• Photo of the day: Go 4th!, Kettering’s Independence Day celebration, happened on Thursday at Delco Park. Photographer Tom Gilliam was there to get images of the party and the fireworks. Go here to see the photos.