Vaccine Available To Remaining 1b Essential Workers In Fairfax

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — On Tuesday, the Fairfax County Health Department opened COVID-19 vaccine registration to the remaining essential worker groups in phase 1b.

Newly eligible groups are officials needed to maintain continuity of government, clergy and faith leaders, and janitorial and cleaning staff. Registration is open to those in the Fairfax Health District, which includes Fairfax County, the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, and the towns of Clifton, Herndon and Vienna.

"We are opening these categories because our vaccine supply is increasing and we are moving through our current waitlist at a faster pace," the health department stated. "We expect to move into Phase 1c by mid-April and move into Phase 2 by May 1 in accordance with VDH guidance."

Here are the essential workers included in those categories:

Officials needed to maintain continuity of government

• Boards, Authorities and Commissions
• Government contractors (on-site contractors only)
• Government employees (full-time and part-time)
• Judicial employees (commonwealth’s attorneys, court personnel, judges)

Clergy and faith leaders

Examples include:

• Apostles
• Bishops
• Cardinals
• Clergy members
• Imams
• Ministers
• Nuns
• Pastors
• Priests
• Pujaris
• Rabbis

Janitorial and cleaning staff

There is no specific guidance for this category.

Certain essential workers are included in phase 1b along with people 65 and over and people with an underlying condition or disability. Long-term care facility residents and health care workers remain eligible through phase 1a.

Here is the full list of essential workers in 1b:

1. Police, fire, and hazmat (currently eligible)
2. Corrections and homeless shelter workers (currently eligible)
3. Childcare/K-12 Teachers or Staff (currently eligible)
4. Food and Agriculture (currently eligible)
5. Manufacturing (currently eligible)
6. Grocery store workers (currently eligible)
7. Public transit workers (currently eligible)
8. Mail carriers (USPS and private) (currently eligible)
9. Officials needed to maintain continuity of government (currently eligible)
10. Clergy/Faith leaders (currently eligible)
11. Janitorial/Cleaning staff (currently eligible)

Registration is open to those in phases 1a and 1b at: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/health/novel-coronavirus/vaccine/registration.

Phase 1c, the last phase before the general public, will include other essential worker groups (energy; water, wastewater, and waste removal workers; housing and construction; food service; transportation and logistics; institutions of higher education faculty and staff; finance; information technology and communication; media; legal services; public safety (engineers); and other public health workers).

Phase 2 will include all residents 16 and up.

The health department is seeing a lower percentage of people remaining on the vaccine wait list than earlier in March. As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, 40,399 remain on the waitlist, or 11 percent of the 354,602 registered. The health department is making vaccine appointments for those who signed up on March 16. Last week, Fairfax received 55,470 vaccine doses.

As of Tuesday, 309,338 people have at least one vaccine dose in Fairfax County and 158,541 are fully vaccinated, according to the Virginia Department of Health.