AP
Washington Hispanic:
Some local Virginia health departments will begin offering COVID-19 vaccines next week to limited portions of the general public as the state begins to move into its second phase of vaccine distribution.
The Virginia Department of Health said in a news release Friday that 11 local health districts hope to gradually begin adding immunization opportunities for people who fall into what is called Phase 1b of the state’s distribution plan, a group that It includes people over the age of 75, people in prison, and certain types of workers. The entire state is expected to move to Phase 1b before the end of January, the press release said.
“We are excited to begin vaccinating more people as we continue to work to put this pandemic behind us,” said State Health Commissioner Dr M. Norman Oliver, in a statement. “The number of calls to our VDH hotline and to our local health departments asking about vaccines is evidence that people want this protection. Our aim is to get shots in the arms as quickly as possible.
In addition to people over the age of 75, category 1b covers people living in prisons, homeless shelters or migrant labor camps, as well as “essential frontline workers”. The State defines this group as people in critical jobs for the functioning of society who have a substantially higher risk of exposure to the virus. They include police officers, child care workers and teachers, supermarket workers, and mail carriers. More guidance is available online.
Alena Yarmosky, a spokeswoman for Gov. Ralph Northam, said Virginia elected officials would also be included in 1b.
“Elected officials are essential to the functioning of government, and many are required to regularly interact with the public as part of their jobs. Those with high-risk medical conditions will be initially prioritized; lower risk elected officials will be at the bottom of group 1b, ”he wrote in an email.
In the current phase, 1a, only healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities have been eligible to receive a dose.
Earlier this week, Northam vowed that the state would move more quickly to distribute the vaccines and implement a “use it or lose it” policy, saying that health systems that are not moving fast enough to receive injections in the weapons they will receive fewer doses in future rounds of distribution.
Health department data shows that Virginia has received nearly 482,000 doses of the vaccine so far and nearly 149,000 have been administered.
The state said the following health districts will move to phase 1b: Alexandria, Arlington, Cumberland Plateau, Fairfax, Lenowisco, Lord Fairfax, Loudoun, Mount Rogers, New River, Prince William and Roanoke County / Allegheny.
Marian Hunter, a spokeswoman for the state health department, said local health districts should have more information about vaccine availability on their websites by Monday. An interactive map showing which health district is in which distribution phase will also be available next week on the state health department’s website, he said.
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