Alexandria Opens Vaccinations To More Essential Workers In 1B

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The Alexandria Health Department says it is opening vaccinations to other essential worker groups in Phase 1B while vaccinations for seniors are ongoing.

On Jan. 11, the health department started Phase 1B, prioritizing people 75 and older, police, fire, and hazmat workers; corrections and homeless shelter workers; and, childcare and preK-12 teachers and staff. Eligibility was expanded on Jan. 14 to anyone 65 and older and people 16 to 64 with an underlying health condition or disability.

The health department is now vaccinating other essential workers, including packaging and agriculture workers (includes veterinarians), manufacturing workers, grocery store workers, public transit workers, mail carriers (USPS and private), and officials needed to maintain continuity of government (including judges and public-facing judicial workers).

Individuals do not need to fill out the pre-registration form more than once; they will be contacted for appointments on a rolling basis.

Anyone who works in these groups can fill out the pre-registration form. Since the vaccine supply is limited to less than 2,000 doses per week in Alexandria, the health department estimates it could take several weeks or months to get all essential workers vaccinated.

Those who qualify under Phase 1A (health care workers or long-term care facility residents) are eligible for the vaccine as well. Essential workers who will be eligible in Phase 1C can also preregister to be notified when they do become eligible for an appointment. Phase 1C includes workers in energy; water, wastewater, and waste removal workers (includes recycling removal workers); housing construction workers; food service workers; transportation and logistics workers; institutions of higher education faculty and staff; finance workers; information technology and communication workers; media; legal services; public safety (engineers); and other public health workers.

Anyone encountering difficulty with online pre-registration can call the Alexandria COVID-19 Hotline at 703-746-4988, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The health department encourages patience as the hotline experiences a high call volume.

As of Wednesday, 12,531 vaccine doses have been given to Alexandria residents, representing 7.95 percent of the population. There are 1,604 Alexandrians who have both doses and are fully vaccinated. To date, 22,675 doses have been shipped to Alexandria, according to the Virginia Department of Health.