Vaccine Prioritization Outlined By Alexandria Health Department

ALEXANDRIA, VA — As COVID-19 vaccine demand remains higher than supply, the Alexandria Health Department has outlined how it prioritizes doses.

The health department has seen over 45,000 people preregister for the vaccine, but less than 2,000 doses are allocated to Alexandria each week. Per Virginia Department of Health guidelines, local health departments must follow the priority group phases of Phase 1a, Phase 1b, and Phase 1c.

With Phase 1b alone including tens of thousands, criteria are used to prioritize appointments until supply can ramp up enough to meet demand. Doses are first prioritized for Alexandria residents ages 75 and older, long-term care residents and employees, and health care workers, human service workers and primary caregivers for people with severe conditions, who live or work in Alexandria.

Remaining appointment slots are divided into two groups: 50 percent allocated for people ages 65 to 74 and 50 percent for essential workers in Phase 1b and people 16 to 64 with underlying conditions or disabilities.

For the 65 to 74 group, the first priority group includes residents of 13 Census tracts with the highest social vulnerability scores using 15 factors such as poverty, race or ethnicity status, not speaking English well, and crowded housing. These residents receive early access depending on the order in which they preregistered. The second priority group includes residents 65 to 74 outside the 13 most vulnerable Census tracts. Members of each group are invited to schedule their appointment based on the order in which they preregistered.

For the essential worker and people with underlying conditions group, essential workers will get to schedule an appointment based on the order in which they preregistered. Residents 16 to 64 with underlying conditions are split into two priority groups: the first including residents of the 13 Census tracts with the highest social vulnerability scores, and the second includes residents outside those Census tracts.

The use of the social vulnerability scores from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aligns with the health department's monthly ZIP code analysis of COVID-19 cases, city's 2019 Community Health Assessment, and rental and food assistance request data. Local, state and national data has shown the highest social vulnerability risk categories have higher rates of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death, and they often live and work in conditions that make it more difficult to protect themselves from COVID-19.

"Prioritizing residents in Alexandria’s 13 census tracts with the highest social vulnerability leverages limited vaccine supplies to maximize impact, reduces Alexandria’s number of cases and hospitalizations, saves lives, and helps to address long standing inequities," said the health department in a statement.

Alexandria is currently vaccinating people in Phases 1a and 1b but not yet Phase 1c. Phase 1a includes health care workers and long-term care facility residents and workers. Phase 1b includes certain essential worker groups, all residents 65 and over, individuals 16 to 64 with underlying conditions or disabilities, and people living in homeless shelters, migrant labor camps and correctional facilities. Phase 1c includes more essential worker groups.

Earlier this week, the Alexandria Health Department noted faith leaders and cleaning/janitorial staff have been added to Phase 1b and are eligible in the jurisdiction in which they work.

Mayor Justin Wilson has written to Gov. Ralph Northam requesting retail, personal care and restaurant workers be added to the current vaccination Phase 1b.

"Currently, retail, personal care and restaurant workers are in line for vaccines behind many workers in our community who are not required to interact with the public on a daily basis in order to do their jobs," the letter stated. "We must prioritize these public-facing industries and the workers who sustain them."

Alexandria is using the new statewide vaccine preregistration system, and individuals who previously preregistered are being transferred over to the new system. The preregistration form is available at vaccinate.virginia.gov, and a preregistration hotline is available at 877-VAX-IN-VA (877-829-4682.