All residents over 16 are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Alexandria.
The Alexandria Health Department announced today (Monday) that while eligibility has been greatly expanded, availability is still depending on vaccine supply and could take several months.
“This does not include additional vaccine supplies from federal programs provided directly to participating pharmacies and Alexandria’s federally qualified health center, Neighborhood Health,” according to AHD.
Residents are encouraged to pre-register with the city to get on the vaccine waitlist at alexandriava.gov/Vaccines or call 703-746-4988 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
After nearly 11 years as the Alexandria Health Department Director, Dr. Stephen Haering suddenly announced his retirement, effective immediately, on Friday.
Mayor Justin Wilson said he was shocked by the news.
Coronavirus vaccine eligibility expanded — Every Virginian 16 and older will be eligible for the #COVID19 vaccine by April 18–but several health districts have already expanded vaccinations to all adults or will be doing so in the coming days.” [Twitter]
Alexandria expanding vaccine phase 1C — “AHD follows the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) guidance that considers a frontline essential workers’ vaccine eligibility based upon their workplace location. This means that there are Alexandria residents working in essential frontline roles outside of the city limits of Alexandria who have yet to be vaccinated as a result of their employer jurisdiction’s supply availability. Therefore, before moving to Phase 2, AHD will offer vaccine appointments to all Alexandria residents who work in Phase 1 industries, regardless of their workplace location. If you are an essential frontline worker in Phase 1a, 1b, or 1c living in Alexandria and have not yet received a vaccine appointment, pre-register online or update your pre-registration record to ensure that the job category in your profile is correct.” [City of Alexandria]
Alexandria has moved into the vaccination Phase 1c, opening up eligibility for an expanded group of essential workers.
“At this time, AHD has enough vaccine supply to offer appointments to pre-registered individuals in Phase 1a, 1b, and 1c without further prioritization,” according to the Alexandria Health Department. “All residents who want to receive a vaccine are encouraged to visit alexandriava.gov/Vaccines to pre-register or update their records.”
There’s a line nowadays that snakes around the corner from the old Pet Valu store at 3819 Mount Vernon Avenue in Arlandria. The store has been repurposed as a vaccine site for Neighborhood Health, which has given away more than 16,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to low income and mostly minority residents.
“We have provided 16,000 vaccines between all the sites, and 85% of them have been to people of color,” Neighborhood Health Executive Director Dr. Basim Khan told ALXnow. “We’ve ramped it up over time since we started. So at this point we’re at 5,000 vaccines a week.”
Alexandria is looking back on a full year of the coronavirus, and hopes are high that the end of the pandemic is in sight.
“It has been an extraordinary year in our City,” Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson tweeted this morning. “The fact that we are here, with an end in sight, is a testament to the tireless commitment of thousands of volunteers, public servants, community organizations and brave healthcare workers.”
Alexandria City Public Schools plan on opening for five-day instruction this fall, Superintendent gregory Hutchings, Jr. reported to the School Board on Thursday night.
Hutchings said that the transition back to in-person hybrid instruction on March 2, March 9 and March 16, has been “seamless,” and that the Board will receive a logistical update in April.
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.
Two more Alexandrians have died of COVID-19 and the death toll from the virus now stands at 128.
The latest fatalities were in their 80s and 60s.
There have been seven more coronavirus-related deaths in Alexandria, bringing the death toll from the virus to 126.
Alexandria’s caseload now stands at 10,456. That’s 114 more cases since this time last week, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
