First Wave Of CVS Vaccine Appointments Booked In Virginia

VIRGINIA — The first days of COVID-19 vaccine appointments at select CVS Pharmacy stores in Virginia are booked.

On Tuesday, CVS opened scheduling for the coronavirus vaccines at select Virginia locations for appointments beginning Feb. 12, and all locations in Virginia were fully booked the same day.

In an email, CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault clarified that the appointments for multiple days were fully booked.

"We expect more appointments to be made available in VA on Thursday (tomorrow), as well as next week when our next allocation of vaccine is expected to arrive," said Thibault. "Vaccine appointments are being added on a rolling basis as they become available."

The appointment scheduling website states that appointments are open to residents 65 and older who are on a wait list with their local health departments. Virginia Department of Health officials asked CVS to follow Virginia's priority vaccination groups and provide appointments for individuals already on wait lists at local health departments.

However, a statement from the Virginia Department of Health indicates individuals who were preregistered with local health departments could not be prioritized for booking.

In a call with reporters, Dr. Danny Avula, the state's vaccination coordinator, noted appointments were available to anyone on the internet.

"For various reasons, CVS was very willing to explore opportunities with us, but they were not able to deliver a technological solution that would allow us to preregister folks who had already been waiting on our list," said Avula.

The appointment booking form asks users if they are 65 and older and on a wait list at a local health department. Avula said CVS is confirming that people registered for appointments are 65 and older.

"While it does not meet what we had asked for, which is that we wanted folks who are both 65 and over and on our preregistration list to be confirmed, it does at least ensure that it's going to one of our highest priority populations," said Avula. "And this is a large number of doses — 26,000 doses per week — is almost 20 percent increase to what we're getting as a state. Not an ideal rollout, but at the end of the day, we are thankful that it's a way to pull down more vaccine into Virginia."

The initial vaccine rollout at CVS is part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program. Pharmacy companies receive vaccine doses directly from the federal government, and an initial 26,000 weekly doses will be offered in Virginia. Separately, CVS is also part of a federal vaccination program at long-term care facilities.

CVS will expand to more locations and offer additional appointments as more supply becomes available. Eventually vaccines will be available at all CVS Pharmacy locations in the U.S. subject to product availability.

Residents can check back for upcoming appointment availability at www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine.

Communities with CVS stores initially offering the vaccine are:

• Abingdon, VA
• Alexandria, VA
• Arlington, VA
• Bedford, VA
• Blacksburg, VA
• Charlottesville, VA
• Chatham, VA
• Chesapeake, VA
• Danville, VA
• Dublin, VA
• Fairfax, VA
• Fredericksburg, VA
• Gainesville, VA
• Hampton, VA
• Harrisonburg, VA
• Leesburg, VA
• Lynchburg, VA
• Martinsville, VA
• Mechanicsville, VA
• Midlothian, VA
• Newport News, VA
• Norfolk, VA
• Petersburg, VA
• Portsmouth, VA
• Richmond, VA
• Roanoke, VA
• Rocky Mount, VA
• Stafford, VA
• Suffolk, VA
• Virginia Beach, VA
• Warrenton, VA
• Williamsburg, VA
• Winchester, VA
• Woodstock, VA

COVID-19 vaccine update in Virginia

As of Wednesday, 1,156,117 doses have been administered in the state, or about 71 percent of the 1,618,075 doses distributed. According to VDH, 926,772 people have at least one dose (10.9 percent of population), and 229,345 are fully vaccinated (2.6 percent of population).

Vaccine doses administered by facility type include 409,554 by hospitals, 327,071 by local health departments, 153,794 by long-term care facilities, 120,699 by community health providers, 107,012 by medical practices and 37,987 by pharmacies.

A virtual town to answer questions about the vaccine will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Avula, State Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver and others will participate. It will be available on select TV stations and streaming, including WDVM, www.localdvm.com.

COVID-19 numbers in Virginia

On Wednesday, 3,203 additional coronavirus cases and 34 deaths were reported in Virginia. Cumulative cases stand at 537,319, and there have been 6,932 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

Hospitalizations decreased from 2,242 to 2,198 on Wednesday. The current patients include 449 in the intensive care units and 286 on ventilators. COVID-19 patients account for approximately 16 percent of the 13,455 total hospital beds occupied in Virginia.

According to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, ICU occupancy among all hospital patients is at 82 percent, and ventilator use is at 34 percent.

The seven-day positive average of PCR tests stands at 10.2 percent statewide as of Feb. 6. The state is averaging 24,639 PCR testing encounters per day, which is down from a peak average of 35,015 testing encounters on Jan. 14.

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

• Alexandria: 9,798 cases, 495 hospitalizations, 105 deaths; increase of 20 cases and one hospitalization
• Arlington County: 12,364 cases, 745 hospitalizations, 209 deaths; increase of 58 cases, one hospitalization and one death
• Fairfax County: 62,445 cases, 3,375 hospitalizations, 821 deaths; increase of 478 cases, 18 hospitalizations and five deaths
• Fairfax City: 448 cases, 33 hospitalizations, 12 deaths; increase of two cases
• Falls Church: 318 cases, 20 hospitalizations, seven deaths; increase of one case
• Loudoun County: 21,808 cases, 798 hospitalizations, 191 deaths; increase of 85 cases, five hospitalizations and two deaths
• Manassas: 3,866 cases, 156 hospitalizations, 33 deaths; increase of 20 cases
• Manassas Park: 1,101 cases, 66 hospitalizations, eight deaths; increase of five cases
• Prince William County: 37,184 cases, 1,348 hospitalizations, 327 deaths; increase of 268 cases, three hospitalizations and one death
• Fredericksburg: 1,668 cases, 77 hospitalizations, 14 deaths; increase of 16 cases
• Spotsylvania County: 7,744 cases, 252 hospitalizations, 87 deaths; increase of 39 cases and six hospitalizations
• Stafford County: 8,727 cases, 291 hospitalizations, 53 deaths; increase of 104 cases and seven hospitalizations