NoVA Starts Phase 1c Vaccinations With Eye On Phase 2 Deadline

VIRGINIA — This week marked the start of phase 1c COVID-19 vaccinations for many of Northern Virginia's health districts as they face an April 18 deadline to open eligibility to anyone 16 and up.

Phase 1c is the last phase before phase 2 for all residents 16 and up. Essential worker groups covered in phase 1c include energy; water, wastewater, and waste removal workers; housing and construction; food service; transportation and logistics; institutions of higher education faculty and staff; workers in finance; information technology and communication; media; legal services; public safety (engineers); and other public health workers.

The move to phase 1c signals progress on waitlists, as Northern Virginia health districts have been in phase 1b since mid-January. The Fairfax Health District, which covers Fairfax County and the cities of Falls Church and Fairfax, opened registrations for half of phase 1c workers on Monday. Registrations for remaining 1c workers opened on Wednesday.

Arlington County is starting to schedule appointments for 1c, and Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said in a video update those registered in 1c will be notified before Arlington enters phase 2. The Prince William Health District, which also covers Manassas and Manassas Park, started scheduling 1c appointments as of Monday. Loudoun County and Alexandria made 1c workers eligible on Monday.

Gov. Ralph Northam announced last week that all areas of Virginia should start phase 2 for all Virginians 16 and up by April 18. That's one day before the new target date President Joe Biden set for states to make all residents 16 and up eligible.

Some areas of Virginia have moved to phase 2 before the April 18 deadline, according to the Virginia Department of Health's tracker. That includes the Lord Fairfax and Rappahannock Rapidan Health Districts outside the immediate Northern Virginia region.

Residents in the Fairfax Health District should continue to use the health department's vaccine registration form, but other Virginia residents can register at vaccinate.virginia.gov.

As of Wednesday, VDH said 2,870,658 people have at least one vaccine dose, or 33.6 percent of the population. There are 1,604,477 people fully vaccinated, or 18.8 percent of the population.

The state is averaging 78,785 doses administered per day. Leading the way are local health departments with 1,295,489 doses given. Pharmacies have given 1,050,275 doses, hospitals have given 871,342, medical practices have given 652,554, and other community health providers have given 475,310.

COVID-19 data

Virginia's cases, hospitalizations and positive averages have stabilized after decreases from January through parts of March. On Wednesday, 1,550 new COVID-19 cases were reported, bringing the seven-day average of daily cases to 1,454. The peak average had been 6,166 on Jan. 18.

The positive average of PCR tests is 6.2 percent as of April 3, compared to a peak above 17 percent for several days in January. The number of daily testing encounters is also down since January. An average of 16,683 testing encounters are being reported as of April 3, compared to a peak of 35,039 on Jan. 14.

COVID-19 hospitalizations totaled 1,059 on Wednesday, including 254 patients in the intensive care units and 140 on ventilators. By comparison, the peak average number of patients was above 3,000 for part of January.

Ventilator use among all hospital patients is at 30 percent, and ICU occupancy is at 75 percent, according to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association.

There were 14 new deaths reported on Wednesday. So far, the highest days for deaths by death certificate data were in January; the top day was Jan. 8 with 84 confirmed positive and 22 probable COVID-19 deaths.

Here are the latest coronavirus data updates for our coverage area from Tuesday to Wednesday:

• Alexandria: 11,136 cases, 537 hospitalizations, 129 deaths; increase of 36 cases and one hospitalization
• Arlington County: 14,490 cases, 810 hospitalizations, 249 deaths; increase of 26 cases and one hospitalization
• Fairfax County: 72,551 cases, 3,769 hospitalizations, 1,049 deaths; increase of 161 cases, three hospitalizations and one death
• Fairfax City: 528 cases, 45 hospitalizations, 18 deaths; increase of one case and one hospitalization
• Falls Church: 404 cases, 20 hospitalizations, nine deaths; increase of two cases
• Loudoun County: 25,794 cases, 960 hospitalizations, 273 deaths; increase of 101 cases, one hospitalization and two deaths
• Manassas: 4,207 cases, 168 hospitalizations, 45 deaths; increase of seven cases and one hospitalization
• Manassas Park: 1,176 cases, 67 hospitalizations, 12 deaths; no changes
• Prince William County: 42,655 cases, 1,541 hospitalizations, 474 deaths; increase of 103 cases, 23 hospitalizations and one death
• Fredericksburg: 1,918 cases, 96 hospitalizations, 22 deaths; increase of two cases
• Spotsylvania County: 9,017 cases, 293 hospitalizations, 109 deaths; increase of 24 cases
• Stafford County: 10,359 cases, 338 hospitalizations, 71 deaths; increase of 27 cases, one hospitalization and one death