Recognizing that “many residents are frustrated,” Arlington officials on Friday called for patience with the county’s vaccine distribution, while asking the state for more doses.
The county is facing control over what some see as a slow release of the COVID-19 vaccine, despite receiving the first shipment of the vaccine before Christmas.
Earlier this week, vaccinations in Arlington were taking place at a rate of just over 200 a day. At this rate, it would take more than two years to administer a single dose of two-dose vaccine to each adult resident of the county.
In the last two days, the pace has accelerated, with over 400 doses administered each day. As of Friday morning, a total of 4,573 doses had been administered and 550 people in Arlington had been completely vaccinated.
However, ARLnow has received a large number of emails in recent days from people saying Arlington should move faster, given the more than 3,000 coronavirus deaths a day nationwide and the growing prevalence of a more contagious virus strains.
“The inability to climb at a more reasonable speed is terrible,” said one person. “People are dying.”
In a press release today, the county said it was “moving fast to speed up access for eligible Arlingtonians.”
This weekend, the Arlington County Public Health Division will hold two clinics to vaccinate 1,800 people in the priority child care group / PreK-12 / Personnel identified in Phase 1b, the press release said.
But even that effort is not without controversy.
As ARLnow first reported on Thursday, the county-led registration process for Arlington public school employees to register for vaccinations was flawed, with many not receiving the emails and links needed to register. Some of those who managed to register and receive a confirmation email for the first time were later told that it was not actually a confirmation of a meeting.
“You received confirmation from WordPress due to a technology error that allowed more appointments to be booked than were available,” school staff said in an email from Arlington’s public health division this afternoon.
Some who received that initial confirmation were unable to secure a place when registration was reopened last night, we are told.
“There were limited slots available,” APS spokesman Frank Bellavia explained today. “Public health sent an e-mail last night to staff who did not receive an appointment to schedule one of the remaining slots. Those remaining slots have been occupied until this morning. ”
Ryan Hudson, a public health spokesman in Arlington, said the county is now awaiting more vaccine offers and cannot say for sure when the rest of the APS employees will be vaccinated.
“We cannot provide a specific date when all APS teachers and staff will be vaccinated, because the ability to schedule meetings will depend on the increased distribution of the vaccine in Virginia,” he said.
The expansion of eligible people in phase 1b, unfortunately, does not increase Arlington’s limited supply of vaccine doses, Hudson added. “The county has begun establishing its distribution and infrastructure plan in 2020. Arlington is poised to speed up appointments as soon as the county receives additional doses from Virginia.”
The county’s health director, Dr. Reuben Varghese, told the Arlington County Committee earlier this week that the county is still working to establish the infrastructure for mass vaccinations. Asked by ARLnow why this process did not start earlier, the president of the county council Matt de Ferranti said that a lot of work was done until the arrival of the first doses of vaccine.
“Freezers have been ordered, [a] the site was developed and we already had a pre-existing relationship with Virginia Hospital Center, ”he said today. “Many other infrastructure measures have been taken, but demand [for the vaccine] so far exceeds the offer. Other jurisdictions in North Virginia and DC also face similar challenges. We are working to get as much vaccine as possible. We ask for as much patience as people can find. ”
In this afternoon’s press release, de Ferranti defended the efforts of Varghese and county manager Mark Schwartz.
“As the situation continues to change rapidly, our county manager and director of public health are working hard to secure the vaccines and put them in their arms,” he said. “The council has assured them that we will provide any resources needed to do so.”
Other local jurisdictions have also said that the COVID-19 vaccine is deficient.
“The supply of vaccines in the US is still very limited and is expected to increase gradually in the coming months. Fairfax Health requires patience during this process, “City of Falls Church, which uses services from the Fairfax County Department of Health, posted to Twitter today.
Virginia is close to the bottom of the United States in terms of using the vaccine supply it has at hand, according to Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden said today that the new administration intends to use FEMA and the National Guard to set up vaccination clinics across the country, while working to obtain more vaccines at local pharmacies.
The complete press release of the county is below.
Arlington County applauds Governor Ralph Northam’s decision to make the COVID-19 vaccine available to more Virginians, and county health and government officials are moving quickly to increase access for eligible Arlingtonians.
On Thursday, January 14, Northam announced that all Virginians over the age of 65 and those between the ages of 16 and 64 with underlying medical conditions will be moved to Phase 1b as part of the community’s immunization plan.
“We are grateful that the state is making the COVID-19 vaccine more accessible to Virginians who need it and want it,” said Dr. Aaron Miller, director of public safety communications and emergency management. “Right now, every available dose we have has a proper arm to enter. And we continue to support the Commonwealth’s efforts to release more vaccines. ”
“The county government’s top priority is to ensure the rapid, efficient and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines,” said Matt de Ferranti, chairman of the Arlington County Committee. “We know that many residents are frustrated and we understand and share your concerns. Since Monday, there have been rapid changes in eligibility in the priority groups, including the addition to phase 1b of those aged 65 to 74 and those aged 16 to 64 with underlying medical conditions. We also receive far fewer vaccines than the Arlingtonians demand. Please be as patient as possible as we work urgently on this critical challenge. ”
This weekend, the Arlington County Public Health Division will hold two clinics to vaccinate 1,800 people in the priority child care group / PreK-12 / Phase 1b-identified staff, including Arlington Public Schools (APS). People in this group who cannot schedule a meeting for this weekend will have the opportunity to make appointments as more vaccine becomes available.
Virginia Hospital Center (HCV), which has already partnered with the county to operate a vaccination clinic for residents over the age of 75, is working to increase scheduling opportunities when more vaccine offerings become available.
As Arlington County public health begins to receive guidance from the Virginia Department of Health on the additional people eligible for Phase 1b, it continues to work to vaccinate the many people who have pre-registered in the past few days.
The expansion of Phase 1b eligible individuals does not increase Arlington’s limited supply of vaccine doses. The ability to schedule meetings will depend on the increased distribution of the Virginia vaccine. The national distribution of any COVID-19 vaccine is managed by the CDC and the US Department of Defense. Arlington County is poised to speed up and speed up appointments as soon as the county receives additional doses from Virginia.
In the meantime, people aged 65 to 74 and people aged 16 to 64 with a high-risk condition or disability that increases their risk of serious illness from COVID-19 may register in advance. and will be notified when appointments become available as vaccine distribution increases
Arlington employers of key frontline workers (identified in Phase 1b) who want a COVID-19 vaccine should pre-register with the Public Health Division of Arlington County.
“As the situation continues to change rapidly, our county manager and director of public health are working hard to secure the vaccines and put them in their arms,” de Ferranti said. “The council has assured them that we will provide any resources needed to do so.”
Matt Blitz contributed to this report.