Increased Vaccine Allocation Expected In Virginia: Governor

VIRGINIA — The number of COVID-19 vaccinations available this week should increase 20 percent, Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday, as hospitals shift inventory. Increased COVID-19 vaccine allocations are expected from the federal government, the governor said as he addressed the pace of the vaccine rollout in Virginia, and released new data to improve transparency on vaccine distribution.

Northam also extended his coronavirus restrictions through the end of February.

More than a month into vaccinations, some have questioned the significant gap between COVID-19 doses distributed and doses administered in Virginia. Residents eligible for the vaccine have also expressed confusion about the process of signing up and frustration as they face wait times for appointments due to limited supplies of doses.

"I want all of you to know that I understand your frustration," Northam said at a Wednesday news conference. "I know you’re out of patience and I am, as well. Everyone across the country is tired of the pandemic. We all want to put COVID behind us and get back to normal. We know that vaccines are the way out and everyone wants to get their shot now, and I get that."

As of Wednesday, the Virginia Department of Health reported 602,983 total doses administered (524,722 people with at least one dose and 78,261 fully vaccinated). To date, 1,166,600 doses have been distributed in Virginia.

Virginia ranks 37th among U.S. states for vaccines with administered as a percentage of vaccines distributed, according to Becker's Hospital Review. The latest percentage was 50.74 percent as of Wednesday. The day before, Virginia ranked 49th among states with 45.15 percent of doses administered.

In response to calls to improve transparency on vaccine distribution, VDH has launched a revised dashboard with more data. The new data includes where doses have been delivered, where they are sitting, how much of the population has been vaccinated, and vaccinations per 100,000 people in each locality. This joins data on total doses distributed, how many people have received first and second doses, how many doses have been given in localities, and demographics data. Northam said there are efforts underway to improve race and ethnicity reporting.

According to Dr. Danny Avula, who leads the state's vaccination program, the gap between doses administered and distributed is around 400,000 to 500,000 .

"The largest chunk of those are second doses that have been delivered to Virginia and are ready to be administered but are waiting for those appointments," Avula said.

So far, VDH's vaccine dashboard shows hospitals administering the most doses, followed by local health departments. Northam and his staff have been contacting hospitals and health departments to determine if they're holding onto second dose supplies. State officials are asking hospital systems to shift supplies to others that will administer vaccinations this week.

"Hospitals have really stepped up. By shifting inventory around, we're going to be able to increase the number of shots this week by about 20 percent," said Northam. "That's about 40,000 more shots by this Sunday on top of the 175,000 that were already planned."

Virginia is now allocating doses to local health districts based on population and is providing guidance to local health departments on allocating doses. The new guidance says half of doses should be reserved for people 65 and older, and the other half should be for frontline workers in the priority order, people 16 to 64 with a high risk medical condition or disability, and people in correctional facilities, homeless shelters and migrant labor camps.

"These groups are about the same size, but they are very large," said Northam. "It will take several weeks to reach everyone, and I ask you to keep that in mind."

Northam also directed VDH to create a statewide system with a phone number and website that can facilitate registration. For now, he says eligible residents should visit their local health district's website or call them for registration.

“I take this seriously because I know people just want answers – even if the answer is that they can’t get an appointment for a month or two, it’s important that everyone knows where to go and how to sign up," said Northam.

Supply of vaccines

Virginia receives approximately 105,000 doses weekly from the federal government, but Northam says the new administration is promising an increase in doses to states. Northam and other governors participated in a call with the White House Tuesday and were informed states would receive 16 percent more doses immediately.

For Virginia, that increase would start with orders it will place on Thursday. The White House also committed to "locking in" the 16 percent increase so states can plan by the month rather than the week, according to Northam.

"Being able to do that and being able to plan ahead all depends on having a stable supply and trust that the supply will continue to roll in," said Northam.

Gen. Gustav Perma, who leads Operation Warp Speed, also told governors that vaccine manufacturers have hit a "stable, regular sustainable cadence of production" and is confident they will deliver the doses committed to the U.S.

When supply does increase, one hospital leader says hospitals are prepared to vaccinate more.
Dr. Mike McDermott, president and CEO of Mary Washington Healthcare. For example, his health system has set up a large scale clinic that could vaccinated more than 2,000 scheduled people per day when it has the doses to run at full capacity.

"As a physician I have done vaccination shifts myself at the clinic, and I can tell you afterwards you emerge filled with hope," said McDermott.

The healthcare system has administered over 16,000 doses so far, with over half in the last week alone. He says the healthcare system has the capacity to administer over 2,000 doses per day and plans to further boost capacity.

McDermott says Virginia hopsitals are capable of administering 100,000 doses per week if adequate vaccine supply is available. Since mid-December, Virginia hospitals have administered over 318,000 doses, vaccinations increased by 35 percent in the last week.

Long-term care facilities vaccinations

CVS and Walgreens are conducting vaccinations at long-term care facilities in Virginia as part of a federal vaccination program. Those vaccinations started on Dec. 28 at skilled nursing facilities and Jan. 11 at assisted living facilities. The federal government's timeline called for finishing the vaccinations later in February. But with a push from Virginia officials, the two pharmacies agreed to speed up the process.

Dr. James Satterfield, a regional healthcare director for Walgreens, said the pharmacy has completed vaccinations at 92 skilled nursing facilities and are in the process of completing assisted living facilities. He expects 94 percent to be completed by the end of January and the rest by the first week of February. To date, Satterfield said Walgreens has given 18,500 shots to most vulnerable long-term care facility residents.

To date, CVS has administered 43,000 doses administered within skilled nursing facilities and 20,000 at assisted living facilities. Dick Dakessian, division vice president for the Mid-Atlantic for CVS Pharmacy, noted that the first round of vaccinations are complete at 195 skilled nursing facilities. CVS is about halfway through second doses and plans to complete second doses by Feb. 8.

The vaccination program at assisted living facilities started on Jan. 11. CVS plas to have most of the 611 facilities completed in three weeks. The remaining three percent of facilities asked for a later date for vaccinations. Second doses will be completed in the three weeks after the first doses are done.

"It's certainly been a herculean effort," said Dakessian. "We're certainly humbled by that. My teams are humbled in going into these facilities. We got family members looking in the windows, supporting us, cheering and really crying when this happens."

Case numbers

Vaccinations got underway as case numbers and hospitalizations grew higher than previous months of the pandemic. Virginia's case average has started to decline after reaching a new high in January, but the average remains above those of previous months.

On Wednesday, 5,227 new cases were reported, and the seven-day average is 4,709 daily cases. The peak average had been 6,166 cases on Jan. 18. Northern Virginia had 1,318 new cases and a seven-day average of 1,120 daily cases.

Current hospitalizations stand at 2,864 after peaking in the 3,000s earlier in January. The total includes 537 patients in the intensive care units and 332 on ventilators. Northern Virginia has 565 current patients.

The 2,843 COVID-19 patients represent about 21 percent of the 13,468 occupied hospital beds in Virginia. There are 16,476 total staffed hospital beds in the state. Ventilator use among all Virginia hospital patients stands at 36 percent, and intensive care unit occupancy is at 84 percent, according to the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association.

The seven-day positive average of PCR tests is on the decline since Jan. 7. As of Jan. 22, the average is 12.3 percent, while Northern Virginia's average stands at 11.2 percent. On a statewide level, there is a seven-day average of 30,510 daily PCR testing encounters. Northern Virginia alone has an average of 7,486 daily testing encounters.

While there's still a ways to go before herd immunity can be accomplished in Virginia, the 524,722people with at least one vaccine dose exceed the 488,553 coronavirus cases in Virginia.

"In just one month more people have been vaccinated than tested positive in the entire year of the pandemic, and that is good news," said Northam.

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

• Alexandria: 9,236 cases, 485 hospitalizations, 102 deaths; increase of 46 cases, 1 hospitalization, 1 death
• Arlington County: 11,414 cases, 721 hospitalizations, 197 deaths; increase of 73 cases, 6 hospitalizationsFairfax County: 58,092 cases, 3,230 hospitalizations, 762 deaths; increase of 533 cases, 16 hospitalizations and two deaths
• Fairfax City: 413 cases, 27 hospitalizations and 10 deaths; increase of 11 cases
• Falls Church: 285 cases, 18 hospitalizations, six deaths; increase of nine cases
• Loudoun County: 19,508 cases, 729 hospitalizations, 173 deaths; increase of 347 cases and four hospitalizations, two deaths
• Manassas: 3,608 cases, 153 hospitalizations, 33 deaths; increase of 21 cases and one death
• Manassas Park: 1,062 cases, 66 hospitalizations, eight deaths; no change
• Prince William County: 34,314 cases, 1,301 hospitalizations, 295 deaths; increase of 444 cases, three hospitalizations, and four deaths
• Fredericksburg: 1,468 cases, 73 hospitalizations, 14 deaths; increase of 22 cases, one hospitalization
• Spotsylvania County: 6,879 cases, 238 hospitalizations, 80 deaths; increase of 59 cases, two hospitalizations and one death
• Stafford County: 7,586 cases, 264 hospitalizations, 45 deaths; increase of 97 cases, one death

Patch editor Jeff Arnold contributed to this report.

SEE ALSO:

• NoVA Leaders Call For Vaccine Doses, Mass Vaccination Site
• More Contagious Coronavirus Variant Found In Northern Virginia