Fairfax County Health Department to begin COVID vaccine rollout
The Fairfax County Health Department hopes to begin the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines this week or the week after.
The FDA granted emergency approval of the Moderna vaccine Dec.
18, and the county expects to receive a shipment within the next few days, says
Colin Brody, assistant public health emergency management coordinator in the
Health Department.
County officials don’t know how many vaccine vials they will
receive in the first shipment from Moderna, but estimate it will be in the “low
thousands,” Brody says. “As the vaccine becomes available, we hope to get
it out as soon as possible.” All COVID vaccinations will be free to the public.
Healthcare workers get first priority
Inova Fairfax Hospital already started vaccinating staff
with the Pfizer vaccine this week. Hospitals are best equipped for the Pfizer
vaccine, which must be stored at extremely cold temperatures (-70 degrees Celsius).
The Moderna vaccine can be stored in a regular freezer, making it better-suited
for community clinics.
The vaccines allocated to Fairfax County will be
prioritized for frontline healthcare workers not in hospitals, such as
emergency medical technicians working for the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue
Department, workers at urgent care and community clinics, and other healthcare
personnel who work with patients who might be exposed to COVID.
That group, identified as 1A, also includes staff and
residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. A federal
pharmacy partnership consisting of Operation Warp Speed, CVS, and Walgreens is
organizing the vaccinations at long-term care facilities.
Related story: Inova Fairfax Hospital begins COVID vaccinations for staff
The next priority group, 1B, includes essential workers who
are not in healthcare or in regular contact with people infected with COVID,
but do work with the public in close quarters in critical jobs, Brody says.
That group is still being defined by the CDC but is likely to include people
who work in energy, utilities, education, law enforcement, food and
agriculture, and essential retail, such as grocery stores and pharmacies.
That group also includes people 75 and older and people with
health conditions that put them at greater risk of serious illness from COVID.
Next in line is group 1C, the general public.
Since the 1B group is so large, the Health Department might have to set
priorities within that group depending on how many vaccines are available,
Brody says. To ensure the limited supply of vaccines goes to the people most in
need, Brody expects healthcare facilities might ask for IDs.
The Health Department will administer vaccinations to people
in group 1B at county health centers. Pharmacies, urgent care centers, and
doctors’ offices will receive direct shipments.
The Health Department’s Multicultural Advisory Committee is
working to ensure that people in the 1B category from underserved communities
get access to vaccines through public clinics, such as the Culmore Clinic in
Seven Corners, and the Health Department’s healthcare program for the homeless.
Related story: Virginia healthcare workers start getting COVID vaccines
The 1B group could also include people necessary for the
functions of the government. A key role of the Health Department is encouraging
people to get vaccinated and ensure the public that the vaccine is safe and effective.
One way to get that message across is by having members of the Board of
Supervisors or other elected officials share their vaccine experiences in the media.
Vaccinations are voluntary
According to Brody, it’s the Health Department’s goal to
make sure everyone who meets the eligibility criteria gets vaccinated. But the
vaccine is not mandatory and not everyone is going to want it.
Neither the Pfizer nor Moderna vaccines were tested on
children, so only people age 16 and older will be able to get it. People will
need to be healthy when they get vaccinated but won’t need a COVID test.
Brody predicts it’s going to be late spring or early summer
before everyone who wants to get the vaccine completes the two-dose regimen.
Both vaccines are about 95 percent effective, but there hasn’t been enough research yet on whether people who’ve been vaccinated can still pass
the disease to someone else. As a result, people will still need to wear a mask
until about 70 percent of the population is vaccinated and herd immunity is
attained.
At that point, the Health Department is likely to hand out
“I am vaccinated” stickers to people who don’t need to wear a mask anymore.
10 responses to “Fairfax County Health Department to begin COVID vaccine rollout”
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Beginning of the end, let's start to put this nightmare behind us. Props to the stone cold badasses that got this vaccine out there, could not have been an easy task.
Even in this season of election craziness and so much loss, one day we will look back and realize what an incredible scientific effort it was to go from first infection to effective virus in under a year. Heroic work, heroic SCIENTIFIC work. And by the way, the Moderna and Pfizer lead scientists were immigrants – in the US and Germany. Hope everyone gets their vaccine so we can all go out to lunch again!
I struggle to think of a more noble pursuit than disease research. These teams can go home every day knowing their hard work is going to save millions, what a feeling that must be.
I am the beneficiary of very expensive disease research for my own situation – I have moved from nearing a lung transplant last year – November '19 – to hiking 5 miles a day – November '20 – I thank those doctors, researchers, nurses, study managers, and fellow guinea pigs every single day. And its just three little pills.
The Fairfax County health department has done an excellent job providing information about the coronavirus, testing, and now vaccinations. We're very fortune for the efforts of these dedicated professionals and the scientists who developed these vaccines in record time.
The scientists, always do great because they are less politically self serving like DT and PG.
Aaaand there it is
Or A.G., for that matter
And don't forget to thank the current President, Donald J. Trump for taking the initiative to launch Operation Warp Speed, an effort that owes much of it's success to commercial, private sector organizations.
No thanks to him. Thank God he is leaving.