Vaccine Registration Opens To More Essential Workers in Fairfax

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — On Wednesday, the Fairfax County Health Department said it is opening COVID-19 vaccine registrations to three more essential worker groups in phase 1b.

Due to limited doses, the health department has prioritized select groups of essential workers within phase 1b. Newly eligible groups are food and agriculture (does not include public-facing restaurant workers per state and federal guidelines), manufacturing, and grocery store workers.

Here is the status of all essential worker groups in phase 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
8. Mail carriers (USPS and private)
9. Officials needed to maintain continuity of government
10. Clergy/Faith leaders
11. Janitorial/Cleaning staff

"We are opening these categories because our vaccine supply will be increasing over the next few weeks and we will be able to move through our current waitlist at a faster pace," reads a health department statement. "We expect to move into Phase 1c by mid-April and move into Phase 2 by May 1 in accordance with VDH guidance."

The health department has more information about workers included in the three newly eligible categories.

Vaccine registration is available to eligible essential worker groups, as well as residents 65 and over and ages 16 to 64 with underlying health conditions or disabilities. The registration form is also now available in Spanish.

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 Virginians 16 and up. The Virginia Department of Health expects all areas of Virginia to start this phase at the beginning of May.

Fairfax still faces a waitlist above 100,000 people in phase 1b. As of Wednesday afternoon, it is making appointments for people who registered on Feb. 1, according to the vaccine data dashboard.

The health department has seen the weekly dose allocation increase in recent weeks to provide more vaccination appointments. According to Board of Supervisor Chairman Jeff McKay's newsletter, Fairfax received over 43,000 vaccine doses this week, compared to 31,000 doses last week.

For more information on coronavirus vaccines in Virginia, see the Virginia Patch COVID-19 vaccination page.