Local vaccination efforts accelerated with new vaccine supply, city preps for phase 1c

The City of Alexandria has released more information on upcoming vaccination stages as the state begins to move forwards the phase 1c.

According to the City of Alexandria, Virginia could start to move toward Phase 1c in the next few weeks as vaccine supply starts to increase. The move towards 1c is complicated by the fact that there are still a several thousand Alexandrians in Phase 1b who haven’t been vaccinated, including teachers who are now expected to return to school and restaurant workers the city recently moved into Phase 1b.

“Alexandria continues to make strides in vaccinating residents and essential workers, but AHD has nearly 20,000 pre-registrants in Phase 1b on the waitlist, who have not yet been contacted or vaccinated,” the city said in the press release. “Vaccine supply has been slowly increasing, from less than 2,000 total doses per week to the current approximately 5,000 doses, which are a mix of first and second doses.”

Mayor Justin Wilson had earlier said that the vaccination could take until late summer at the earlier pace of vaccine supply, but — knock on wood — that could be shorter if supply increases continue.

The @VDHgov announced that some health districts will be moving to phase 1C of vaccine distribution.

Alexandria still has nearly 20K 1B residents waiting.

While supply is increasing, there are likely 3-4 weeks left in 1B.

ALL residents should sign up!:https://t.co/eYELMtsTYj

— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) March 17, 2021

“VDH and AHD anticipate these numbers to increase considerably in the coming weeks,” the city said. “AHD anticipates moving into Phase 1c in the next 3-4 weeks depending on an adequate supply of vaccine. The anticipated increase in vaccine supply, and eventual transition to Phase 1c, highlights the importance of pre-registering with vaccinate.virginia.gov, or updating your profile if you have already pre-registered.”

The city recently partnered with Fairfax County and Inova to launch a new vaccination hub in the Victory Center (5001 Eisenhower Avenue) to handle the increase in supply.

With any luck, the VDH estimates that Phase 1c will be complete and all of Virginia will be in Phase 2 by May.

According to the Virginia Department of Health, essential workers in Phase 1c include:

• Energy
• Water, wastewater, and waste removal workers (includes recycling removal workers)
• Housing and Construction
• Food Service
• Transportation and Logistics
• Institutions of Higher Education Faculty/Staff
• Finance
• Information Technology & Communication
• Media
• Legal Services
• Public Safety (engineers)
• Other Public Health Workers