COVID-19 Restrictions And Summer Plans: Take Our Virginia Survey

VIRGINIA — Summer is approaching, and Virginia residents may be thinking about things like graduations, summer vacations and more.

Compared to last summer, there is some hope for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic with vaccinations underway. As of Sunday, all Virginians 16 and older are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, and Gov. Ralph Northam is confident any eligible person can get a first dose by the end of May. To date, 25 percent of Virginians are fully vaccinated and 39.9 percent have at least one dose. Children under age 16 are not eligible yet, but Pfizer and BioNTech are seeking FDA authorization for use in children 12 to 15.

Nevertheless, COVID-19 restrictions are continuing, including a statewide mask mandate. Gov. Ralph Northam eased some restrictions on April 1, including increased capacity for entertainment venues and recreational sports as well as larger social gathering sizes. The governor based this decision on lower coronavirus case counts and rising vaccination numbers.

Cases, hospitalizations and percent positivity of tests are down from earlier this year, but the metrics have hit a plateau. Virginia is also grappling with the presence of variants, including the first two cases of the Brazil variant, or SARS-CoV-2 variant P.1. Of the 674 variants of concern reported to the state's health department to date, the majority have been identified as B.1.1.7, or the U.K. variant, at 78.5 percent, followed by B.1.351, or the South Africa variant, at 9.5 percent of the variants; B.1.427, or the California variant, at 8 percent; and B.1.429, another form of the California variant, at 3.7 percent.

With vaccination progress and health metrics in mind, we want to survey readers on their thoughts about COVID-19 restrictions and summer activities like vacations, graduations and summer camps. The survey will be open from noon on Monday, April 19 through noon on Friday, April 23.

A results story will be shared after the survey closes. The survey is meant not to be a scientific poll, but only to give a broad idea of public sentiment.

Share your thoughts with Patch in our survey, embedded below. If you cannot see the survey, click here.