Fairfax To Start Phase 1C Vaccine Registration Next Week

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — After Gov. Ralph Northam announced Virginia health districts should make all Virginians 16 and up eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by April 18, the Fairfax County Health Department says it will meet that deadline.

The health department also plans to open registration to phase 1c next week. Phase 1c includes certain essential worker groups (energy; water, wastewater, and waste removal workers; housing and construction; food service; transportation and logistics; institutions of higher education faculty and staff; finance; information technology and communication; media; legal services; public safety (engineers); and other public health workers).

As Virginia plans its expansion of vaccine eligibility, President Joe Biden said he expects 90 percent of American adults to be eligible for the vaccine by April 19.

"Fairfax County is ready and prepared to move forward to meet the governor’s and President Biden’s deadlines," said Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay in a statement. "I’m excited that we can continue to open eligibility and vaccinate even more people."

Currently only people eligible in phases 1a and 1b are eligible to register for the vaccine through the Fairfax County Health Department. The Fairfax Health District continues to use its own local registration and is not participating in the statewide vaccine registration system. The health district includes Fairfax County, cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, and the towns of Vienna, Herndon and Clifton.

The start of phase 1c and phase 2 will come as the phase 1b waitlist is short compared to earlier months. As of 2 p.m. Thursday, 28,932 people remain on the waitlist, or 8 percent of the 369,782 who have registered to date.

SEE ALSO: COVID-19 Vaccinations To Open Soon For All Virginians 16 And Up