Move To Phase 1c Depends On Adequate Vaccine Supply In Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, VA — As the state health department announced some health districts will begin moving to phase 1c of COVID-19 vaccinations this week, that won't include Alexandria.

According to the Alexandria Health Department, it could move to phase 1c in the next three to four weeks if it has an adequate supply of doses. The health department has a current wait list of nearly 20,000 in phase 1b. Although weekly doses are up from less than 2,000 per week, the health department now receives approximately 5,000 weekly first and second doses. The state and local health departments expect the weekly allocation to increase substantially in the coming weeks.

Phase 1c, the last phase before the general public, 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).

Phase 1b includes a wide range of residents: people 65 and older, people 16 to 64 with an underlying health condition or disability, certain essential worker groups, and people living in correctional facilities, homeless shelters or migrant labor camps.

The Virginia Department of Health anticipates phase 1b will be complete and all of Virginia will be in Phase 2 (all Virginians 16 and older) by May. According to a statement from VDH, local health departments must have made strong efforts to reach all those eligible in 1a and 1b populations before moving to phase 1c. Local health departments must also consider whether demand has decreased among 1a and 1b populations.

Alexandria residents can preregister for the vaccine at vaccinate.virginia.gov. Those with language or internet access barriers can contact the hotline at 877-VAX-IN-VA (877-829-4682).

The Alexandria Health Department is tracking vaccination progress on a dashboard. There are 25,881 Alexandrians partially vaccinated, or 19.4 percent of Alexandrians 16 and up. The fully vaccinated group totals 17,070, or 12.8 percent of Alexandrians 16 and up. The health department's goal is to get 80 percent of Alexandrians 16 and up vaccinated, or 133,272 people.

Here is the latest age group breakdown of doses administered:

• 10-19: 180 with at least one dose (0.7 percent of age group), 85 fully vaccinated (0.5 percent of age group)
• 20-29: 1,832 with at least one dose (6.7 percent of age group), 1,154 fully vaccinated (6.8 percent of age group)
• 30-39: 3,876 with at least one dose (14.2 percent of age group), 2,482 fully vaccinated (14.5 percent of age group)
• 40-49: 3,530 with at least one dose (12.9 percent of age group), 2,121 fully vaccinated (12.4 percent of age group)
• 50-59: 3,496 with at least one dose (12.8 percent of age group), 1,999 fully vaccinated (11.7 percent of age group)
• 60-69: 5,842 with at least one dose (21.3 percent of age group), 3,108 fully vaccinated (18.2 percent of age group)
• 70-79: 5,927 with at least one dose (21.7 percent of age group), 3,994 fully vaccinated (23.4 percent of age group)
• 80 and up: 2,685 with at least one dose (9.8 percent of age group), 2,127 fully vaccinated (12.5 percent of age group)

For more information on coronavirus vaccines in Virginia, see the Virginia Patch COVID-19 vaccination page.