Fairfax County Health Department to provide more information on COVID vaccine effort
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| PatientTrak is assisting the Fairfax County Health Department with vaccine messaging. [PatientTrak] |
If you registered for a vaccine with the Fairfax County Health Department, there’s no way to know where you stand in the queue or when you’ll be able to receive your appointment.
That may change. The Fairfax County Health Department is developing a new dashboard that will give people a sense of where they are in the queue, the director, Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensu, told the Board of Supervisors’ Health and Human Services Committee last week.
According to Braddock Supervisor James Walkinshaw, the dashboard is expected to give the date that those currently being served had registered, along with the number of remaining registrations.
Appointments are being scheduled in the order that registrations are received. The Health Department is planning to send out periodic email messages to those in the queue.
It’s still going to take people a long time, maybe months, to get vaccination appointments as long as the vaccine supply remains low. More than 186,000 people have registered, while the Health Department only receives about 13,600 doses a week. Fairfax County isn’t expected to get an increased supply of doses until April at the earliest.
Related story: Over 800 COVID deaths so far in Fairfax County
The Health Department is allocating about 50 percent of its doses to people age 65+ and the rest for all other currently eligible people in group 1b, including healthcare workers, teachers, and first responders who are being served at dedicated vaccination clinics.
CVS will begin offering vaccinations Feb. 11 in 36 stores in Virginia, including stores in Fairfax, Arlington, and Alexandria. Store locations should be announced soon. Registration is expected to open Feb. 9.
The Health Department began partnering with Trusted Doctors last week to help vaccinate people on the county’s waitlist. Trusted Doctors is a local healthcare practice that will provide first-dose vaccinations to about 800 people who were at the top of the registration queue.
When Fairfax County begins to receive a larger supply, it will distribute vaccines to doctors’ offices, pharmacies, occupational health clinics, and other healthcare providers.
Once people reach the top of the vaccination queue, they will receive an email with a link for making an appointment. They will then receive a confirmation email with the appointment details. After people are vaccinated, they will receive an invitation to schedule their second dose.
Once people get their second dose, the Federal Trade Commission urges people not to share their vaccine card on social media, as that could put them at risk for identity theft.
Related story: COVID vaccination program to Northern Virginia
Older people who need assistance can bring a caretaker to the vaccination appointment. People are advised to wear a mask to the appointment and take a picture of their vaccination card in case they misplace it.
Anyone who has a reaction to the vaccine is encouraged to report it to the Centers for Disease Control on the v-Safe app.
As of Feb. 1, here’s how the doses were distributed in the Fairfax Health District: Fairfax County Health Department – 45,238 doses; Inova – approximately 75,000; skilled nursing and assisted living facilities – 6,069; others – 16,368.
Here’s how to sign up for a vaccine:
- All healthcare personnel are being vaccinated by Inova Health System and the Fairfax County Health Department. Register online for an appointment with the Health Department or call the vaccine hotline, 703-324-7404 Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. or weekends 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
- Adults age 65 and over should register for a vaccine appointment with the Fairfax County Health Department. See above for details. Anyone who needs to register in a language other than English or doesn’t have internet access should call the vaccine hotline, 703-324-7404.
- Residents and staff of long-term care facilities are being vaccinated by Walgreens and CVS through a federal partnership. Contact the facility’s administrator for details.
- Staff and residents of correctional facilities and homeless shelters are being served in a dedicated vaccination clinic. They should contact their facility or agency for more information.
- Police, fire, and hazmat workers are being served in dedicated vaccination clinics.
- K-12 teachers and staff are being served in vaccination clinics hosted by Inova Health System. The Health Department is providing scheduling information to private school staff.
- Licensed center-based childcare staff should contact the Health Department about dedicated vaccination clinics at Inova.
- People ages 16-64 with a high-risk medical condition or disability that increases their risk of severe illness from COVID-19 should register with the Health Department. See above for details.
14 responses to “Fairfax County Health Department to provide more information on COVID vaccine effort”
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Its about FNN time, however, for a County that should be sophisticated, given that it is part of our Metro Capitol Region it has failed big time. When one registers, the process is as synonymous as writing you name on a piece of paper and letting the wind take it away. That is how many that registered feel. Fairfax get your act together, create a central bank and make CVS part of that queue pool. I don't care where i get the vaccine, I just want it now, I am over 65 with some chronic conditions and am very vulnurable.
Any information would help. Now the process is a total black hole. Today (2/7), the Virginia Covid Vaccine site shows Fairfax County has received 253,125 doses and has done 120,248 total vaccinations. Does that sound like an efficient process? Let's get the vaccines into citizens the most efficient way (which would be somehow other than the way we are doing it).
Some people must be less likely to get Covid. I am out & about all the time, I'm at grocery stores, restaurants, bars, retail stores, gas stations, etc & my antibodies test just came back negative. Am I just lucky or are some folks less susceptible to getting this virus?
That’s the million dollar question. There’s so much that is so inconsistently bizarre about this disease I imagine researchers are salivating at the opportunity to study it for decades. We stand to learn a lot about virology here that’s really fascinating to a lay person like me.
Anon 1:58 AM; either your smart and practice social distancing and where a mask, you are super human, possibly an alien, or you have been lucky so far. I would not push your luck further if you are not practicing CDC guideline and using PPE.
3:48- Yes I wear masks & social distance. Sometimes I feel that the whole human race is part alien.
So I went online to schedule for a vaccine on CVS.com. No available vaccines. Make America Great Again – he didn't and never could. T was just too maniacal to care about any of us contracting COVID. Hope Biden can jump start this anemic effort in NOVA.
Yeah, because Virginia's ineptitude with the vaccine distribution is all Trump's fault. It has absolutely nothing to do with Northam and company's utter incompetence. **massive eye roll following by face palm**
Anon 3:33PM. Dah, hello. This was Trumps alleged great initiative, which nationally failed. If the state had been provided sufficient vaccine doses and funds, we would not be where we are today. Less time in the tanning salon, golf course and giving inflammatory speeches could have resulted in a better vaccine roll out. Let's all hope for the health and sanity of our communities that this virus will now be taken seriously; and diligent actions will be facilitated to get us through this terrible pandemic.
Trump's "warp speed" plan got the vaccine developed in record time. It's the states' responsibility to distribute it to get the vaccine to the people, not the President's.
Unfortunately for us, you and 72M + 1 have a warped sense of reality.
Thank you for reinforcing Anon 3:33 PM's point Peggy! Hey Anon 8:48 AM – check out the recent post on this blog: https://annandaleva.blogspot.com/2021/02/cvs-covid-vaccination-rollout-poorly.html#more
But….but….it's still Trump's fault, right??!
Registered with the Fairfax County Health Department for a vaccine (65+) and then learned that there were no covid vaccines available. Tried CVS today and same result, no covid vaccine available. Checked Walgreens, same story. Both the CVS and Walgreens websites are horrid as far as scheduling a covid vaccine is concerned. Slow, confusing, several clicks and multiple pages just to get to "search for vaccine appointment" page.
Fairfax County Health Department web-based info is almost all useless. I don't need pictures and vaccine testimonials. I already wear a mask, stay home as much as possible, social distance, completely avoid family gatherings, bars, restaurants, movies, etc.
The people who lead and work for our state and local government need to hear one message: get covid vaccines into people's arms NOW.
I know it is very frustrating that this is all taking so long. Thank you for doing your part and staying home, wearing a mask, avoiding gatherings… It may feel like you're one of the only ones, but it is still every bit as important and still the right thing to do.