Vaccine Eligibility Expands To All Of Phase 1b In Loudoun County

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — All Loudoun County residents in Phase 1b are now eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine. The expanded eligibility went into effect on Friday, March 19 after an announcement by the Loudoun County Health Department.

In their announcement, the health department also provided an updated timeline for the remaining vaccine timeline. The health department said that eligibility would expand to those in Phase 1c in April, and all residents over the age of 16 will be eligible by May 1.

For now, the vaccine is being administered to those in Phase 1b. Frontline essential workers, people over the age of 65, and people over the age of 16 with an underlying medical condition are now eligible for the vaccine.

A full list of the 11 groups of essential workers in Phase 1b is available on the Virginia Department of Health's website. It includes janitorial staff, grocery workers, mail carriers, and faith leaders.

Dr. David Goodfriend is the Loudoun County Health Director. "We have made significant progress on vaccinating members of the current priority groups and we are beginning to see consistent increases in supplies of vaccine, which makes this expansion possible now," he said in a news release. "This expansion will enable us to vaccinate more members of our community in the coming weeks."

The county has administered more than 100,000 doses of the vaccine so far, according to an update on the county website. They are administering more than 1,000 vaccines per day, on average.

The county is still scheduling vaccination appointments from their original waitlist. According to the county's dashboard, there are 10,665 people remaining on the waitlist.

They are making appointments for eligible people who pre-registered for the vaccine on Feb. 2. After the county vaccinates the people on their original waitlist, they will begin scheduling appointments for people who registered on the state-wide waitlist.

Dr. Goodfriend noted that even as eligibility expands, the county will still prioritize certain groups. "We will continue to prioritize our over-65 population and our 16-64 populations with underlying medical conditions, as well as other 1a and 1b groups as they sign up."

"The COVID-19 vaccine is proven safe and effective," Dr. Goodfriend said. "Getting as many people vaccinated as soon as possible is the key factor in bringing an end to the pandemic."

To register for the vaccine, residents should sign up for the state's preregistration list. Anyone can preregister for the vaccine, regardless of their current eligibility. The Loudoun Health Department pulls from the state's list to schedule vaccine appointments.

People without internet access can call the state's vaccine hotline at 877-829-4682.