By Taylor Boyd
Virginia launched a new unified, state-wide pre-registration system for the COVID-19 vaccine On Feb. 18. It can be accessed by visiting Vaccinate.Virginia.gov.
“The response has been very strong. at the peak the new site was getting 300 registrations per minute, and it averaged 150 registrations per minute. All told, 240,000 signed up since this site launched. That tells us the system is working and that it’s meeting a demand,” Gov. Ralph Northam said at a recent conference.
Northam said the system also includes “a dedicated call center for those folks who are more comfortable talking to another human being than going online.” The center can be reached by calling 877-829-4682 or 877-VAX-In-VA.
He said the system is available in English or Spanish and callers also may receive a callback to speak to someone in 100 other languages. “In addition, the call center will prioritize those 75 and up, and those who speak Spanish,” he said.
“We have hired 750 call center works to staff those phone lines. 69, or about 10 percent of those are Spanish-speaking,” Northam said, adding the state will hire more people as needed to meet the demand.
Northam said those who have already re-registered through a local health district do not need to register again.
“The data from local health departments is being automatically imported into the new system, 1.6 million records were migrated over the weekend. Everyone who previously preregistered is still on the list,” he said.
“This new system will be a tremendous step forward in our vaccine work. We’ve been getting around 130,000 doses from the federal government. That is an increase from the early weeks when we were receiving about 105,000 does per week. But it’s obviously not enough to meet the demand. I know that President Biden’s administration announced that they are increasing allocation to the states, and that’s wonderful news. We’ll take every dose we can,” Northam said.
He noted that COVID-19 numbers and hospitalizations in the state are decreasing and the vaccine numbers are going up.
“We’ve administered now more than 1.4 million vaccine doses. 12.4 percent of Virginians have received at least their first shot. This puts us twelfth in the nation. We are the twelfth largest state, so that’s exactly where we should be. We’ve used 87 percent of the shots we’ve received, which puts us seventh in the nation. So, we’re getting these out the door as soon as possible. On average, we’re giving almost 34,000 shots per,” he said.
To help reach the state’s goal of 50,000 shots a day, Northam said he signed a piece of emergency legislation which would allow more medical professionals like dentists and medical students to give the COVID-19 vaccines.
“The bill also requires vaccinators to collect race and ethnicity data, which will help us fill an important data gap to ensure the vaccine is being distributed equitably,” he said.
“I’m happy to see our school divisions are stepping up to the challenge I set for them two weeks ago,” he said.
At the time of his announcement, about one-third of Virginia school divisions lacked plans for in-person learning, which represented half-a-million students in Virginia. “Now, that number is down to three or four school divisions, and we’re working with them on solutions,” he said.
Northam said starting on Feb. 22 the state would expand the number of spectators allowed at outdoor sports events to 250, “provided everyone maintains their social distancing. The basic safety needs will stay in place for the foreseeable future- wear a mask, wash your hands, maintained your social distance. This applies to people who have been vaccinated as well,” he said.
As of Monday, Feb. 22 data from the Virginia Department of Health suggested there are 4,140 cases, with 277 hospitalizations, and 92 deaths in Henry County. In Patrick County, 1,171 cases with 89 hospitalized, and 34 dead from the COVID-19 virus were reported. In the City of Martinsville, 1,490 cases were reported with 125 hospitalized, and 50 dead.
The data also suggests there are 567,039 cases in the state, with 23,698 hospitalized, and 7,658 dead from the COVID-19 virus. Information from the CDC suggested there are 27,938,085 cases in the United States and 497,415 dead from coronavirus.
Data also suggests that as of Feb. 22, 497,401 Virginians have been fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.
