CLEVELAND, Ohio - While coronavirus cases continue to drop among the oldest Ohioans - the group most extensively vaccinated to date - cases are up this month over March for younger people.

In fact, the drop in cases for Ohioans age 60 and up has been so sharp since December as vaccines were getting started that if rates for other age groups had fallen as sharply, there would be just half as many new coronavirus cases this month.

In comparing the first 15 days of December ahead of vaccination efforts to the first 15 days of April, coronavirus cases have dropped 90% for those age 60 and older, cleveland.com found in an analysis of case reports from the Ohio Department of Health.

If all age groups had dropped at that same rate, Ohio would have had 13,778 cases with an onset of symptoms from April 1 through April 15.

Instead, Ohio had 27,082 during that time period, records through Sunday show. This is because while the drop off from near the peak in December to April was 90% for for those age least 60 years old, it was just 82% for those age 40 to 59, and 74% for those under the age of 40.

The trends by age group were amplified in the last month, as cases edged up overall in Ohio.

Here are the number of Ohio coronavirus cases by age group the first 15 days of each month this year, based on the date symptoms began.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

The 3,490 cases for those age 60 and up over the first 15 days of April represented a 3% drop from the first half of March.

But among those age 40 to 59, cases were up 15% to 7,614. And for those under the age of 40, cases were up 31% to 15,978.

Younger people were the last to become eligible for vaccines and those age groups are still playing catchup. Through Sunday, the state reported vaccines started for:

* 74% of those age 80 and up (68% completed all doses).

* 75% age 75 to 79 (68% completed).

* 78% age 70 to 74 (69% completed).

* 72% age 65 to 69 (62% completed).

* 62% age 60 to 64 (49% completed).

* 50% age 50 to 59 (35% completed).

* 41% age 40 to 49 (23% completed).

* 34% age 30 to 39 (17% completed).

* 26% age 20 to 29 (12% completed).

* 4% under age 20, though only those age 16 and up are eligible for shots under federal rules (1% completed).

Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner. Find data-related stories at cleveland.com/datacentral. Find previous census 2020 at this link.

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Heres what it would take to cut Ohios coronavirus cases in half - cleveland.com