Advertisement
Presented by

Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Peninsula district to move into Phase 1b of COVID-19 vaccinations

VIRGINIA BEACH — The Peninsula Health District will begin vaccinating individuals in the next phase of COVID-19 vaccine distribution Friday, followed by Virginia Beach and Norfolk on Monday.

Front-line workers, people living in congregated settings, and individuals age 75 and older are included in the subgroups for Phase 1b vaccinations in the Peninsula.

Advertisement

The second group in Virginia Beach that will become eligible for the vaccine includes front-line essential workers, anyone age 65 and older and anyone between the ages of 16 and 64 with high-risk medical conditions.

Front-line essential workers include police officers, firefighters, childcare workers, pre-K-12 teachers and staff, food workers, grocery store workers, public transit workers, mail carriers and judges. Inmates in correctional facilities are also included.

Advertisement

High-risk medical conditions include cancer, chronic kidney disease, COPD, Down syndrome, heart conditions, people in an immunocompromised state from solid organ transplant, obesity, pregnancy, sickle-cell disease, smoking and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

In Norfolk, the same subgroups are included in Phase 1b as Virginia Beach — essential front-line essential workers, individuals age 65 and older, and those with high-risk medical conditions between age 16 and 64. The city will also vaccinate people living in correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and migrant labor camps.

Each city requires residents to preregister to make an appointment. However, signing up for preregistration is not making an appointment.

In Virginia Beach, those eligible to receive the vaccine must preregister through an online portal beginning Monday. Preregistration can be found at www.vbgov.com/vaccinatevb. Registrants must have a working email address. Residents can also call 311 within city limits to ask questions about the process. Outside the city, residents can call 757-385-3111.

Norfolk residents can preregister online at www.norfolk.gov/covid19vaccine or call 757-664-7468 beginning Monday.

The Virginia Department of Health said anyone on the Peninsula preregister over the phone calling 757-594-7496 and leaving a message or going to https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/peninsula/.

Once preregistered, residents will receive an email from the Virginia Department of Health and/or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with a link to the online scheduling system.

The city’s health department will begin closed “point of dispensing” clinics for 1b priority groups on Friday and next week. The health department asks people not to show up to the convention center without an appointment.

Advertisement

A health department spokeswoman said about 125,000 people are eligible for phase 1b in Virginia Beach.

Anyone who is in the 1a group can still get the vaccine in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and the Peninsula.

Virginia Beach’s move into Phase 1b comes just as predicted by the Health Department officials.

Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer and Vice Mayor Jim Wood said they are happy to move onto the next phase but still have concerns about the availability of the vaccine.

”I am sorry we didn’t get to 1b earlier,” Dyer said during an interview on Thursday. “We still remain frustrated and we are looking for ways to get more vaccines.”

In an email to the council on Tuesday, City Manager Patrick Duhaney said “the supply chain is more limited than originally thought.” He said the city is expected to receive 5,800 doses per week. Wood said he hoped that number would increase because it is not enough to vaccinate the entire city this year.

Advertisement

”Obviously, that is far less than what we need to quickly and broadly inoculate the people who want the vaccine,” Duhaney wrote in the email, which was provided to The Pilot. “We will continue to update you as conditions change.”

Virginia Beach has only given the Moderna vaccine so far, but expects to give both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for the next phase of distribution.

As of Thursday afternoon, Virginia Beach had administered 13,271 doses and 738 people were fully vaccinated, according to the Virginia Department of Health website.

About 1,250 doses have been given out each day, a spokeswoman for the city’s health department said.

Some who fall in the 1a and 1b categories may be scheduled to receive the vaccine through their employers, but don’t have to wait for the employer to preregister.

For more information on the state’s vaccine plan, visit https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/covid-19-vaccine.

Advertisement

To view the vaccine phase map, visit https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/covid-19-vaccine/phase-by-health-district.

To take the vaccine priority group quiz, visit https://vdh.jebbit.com/amkwk6m1?L=Owned+Web&JC=Vaccine.

Virginian-Pilot reporters Alissa Skelton and Sierra Jenkins contributed to this report.

Robyn Sidersky, 757-222-5117, robyn.sidersky@pilotonline.com

Correction: The number to call to preregister for a vaccine appointment in Norfolk has been corrected from a previous version.

For the record


Advertisement