Virginia On Pace To Administer 1 Millionth Vaccine This Weekend

VIRGINIA — Virginia is on pace to administer its 1 millionth COVID-19 vaccine this weekend as the state slowly picks up the pace of vaccinations, Gov. Ralph Northam said Friday at a news conference in Richmond. Overall, more than 9 percent of the state's population has received at least the first dose of the vaccine.

Northam said that in new guidance provided to local health districts, the state has instructed localities to administer at least half of their supply of vaccines to people 65 and older. On a regional basis, southwest Virginia has a higher vaccination rate on a per-capita basis than other parts of Virginia, including Northern Virginia.

However, Northam said the state still has a long way to go in its vaccination effort. "I don't want to sugarcoat that," he said. "It's hard to know that you are eligible for a vaccine, but no doses are available yet. But that's the situation we're in across the country. Demand is much larger than supply."

Northam said Virginia saw its supply of vaccines tick up slightly this week. The state received 23 percent more doses of the vaccine from the federal government that it had in previous weeks.

The state is addressing issues with how citizens sign up for the vaccine by expanding its call center capacity. On Saturday, Virginia will start training 750 new call center workers. Once the expanded call center is up and running within a week, residents will be able to call the center to register for the vaccine.

Northam emphasized, though, that if residents have already registered to get the vaccine with their local health district, they do not need to register again through the call center.

At the news conference, the governor also said CVS pharmacies in Virginia will start receiving COVID-19 vaccines next week. Right now, CVS plans to administer the vaccines on a first-come, first-served basis.

But the Northam administration said it plans to consult with CVS to see if instead of a first-come, first-served basis, the pharmacy chain will integrate its vaccine strategy with the state's strategy to allow front-line, at-risk and elderly residents to be at the front of the line.

A Hard Month

"January was a hard month for COVID cases,” Northam said at the news conference. “We saw a record number of cases, hospitalizations and, sadly, deaths.”

But those numbers are all trending down, Northam said, although Virginia reported 5,069 new positive cases on Friday, the highest daily total since Jan. 28.

"We cannot let down our guard," he said. "The virus is mutating and changing." Four positive cases of the U.K. coronavirus variant have been identified so far in Virginia, he said. On Thursday, LabCorp, a private company, identified the first case of the South African coronavirus variant in Virginia.

According to scientists, these variants are more contagious, making it more urgent to get people vaccinated as quickly as possible, Northam said.

The 5,069 new cases reported Friday included 1,106 in Northern Virginia, compared to 730 new cases in the region on Thursday. Virginia's seven-day case average of 3,365 daily cases is still well above any case average before November.

A notable increase in cases began in mid-November and started to take a downturn in the second half of January. The highest daily case counts so far in the pandemic have been 9,914 on Jan. 17, 7,245 on Jan. 18, 6,757 on Jan. 16 and 6,172 on Jan. 25.

Current COVID-19 hospitalizations declined from 2,439 to 2,358 on Friday, continuing the average downward trend beginning on Jan. 19. There are 462 COVID-19 patients in the intensive care units and 294 on ventilators. Northern Virginia has 420 total COVID-19 patients, down from 447 patients on Thursday.

According to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, ICU occupancy among all hospital patients is at 82 percent, and ventilator use is at 35 percent.

The positive average of PCR tests continues to decline since taking a downturn in early January. The latest statewide average is 10.8 percent as of Feb. 1. Northern Virginia's average is 9.4 percent.

There were 82 new COVID-19 deaths reported statewide Friday. Since the start of the pandemic, 6,732 people in Virginia have been attributed to COVID-19.

Below are the latest coronavirus data updates for our coverage area from Thursday to Friday:

• Alexandria: 9,630 cases, 492 hospitalizations, 105 deaths; increase of 56 cases and one hospitalization
• Arlington County: 12,034 cases, 738 hospitalizations, 205 deaths; increase of 106 cases, two hospitalizations and one death
• Fairfax County: 60,902 cases, 3,321 hospitalizations, 803 deaths; increase of 407 cases, 28 hospitalizations and five deaths
• Fairfax City: 441 cases, 31 hospitalizations and 12 deaths; increase of one case
• Falls Church: 306 cases, 20 hospitalizations, seven deaths; increase of five cases and one hospitalization
• Loudoun County: 21,261 cases, 788 hospitalizations, 186 deaths; increase of 246 cases, six hospitalizations and two deaths
• Manassas: 3,774 cases, 155 hospitalizations, 33 deaths; increase of 16 cases
• Manassas Park: 1,081 cases, 66 hospitalizations, eight deaths; increase of five cases
• Prince William County: 36,126 cases, 1,331 hospitalizations, 324 deaths; increase of 264 cases, two hospitalizations and three deaths
• Fredericksburg: 1,602 cases, 75 hospitalizations, 14 deaths; increase of 33 cases and one hospitalization
• Spotsylvania County: 7,486 cases, 245 hospitalizations, 87 deaths; increase of 106 cases, two hospitalizations and three death
• Stafford County: 8,299 cases, 278 hospitalizations, 51 deaths; increase of 116 cases, one hospitalization and one death