Fairfax County Opts Out of Statewide Vaccine Registration System

(Updated at 5:10 p.m.) Fairfax Health District residents looking to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine appointment should continue to use the Fairfax County registration system, the Fairfax County Health Department said today (Friday).

The Virginia Department of Health announced that a new, statewide registration system will launch on Tuesday (Feb. 16). Local health districts have been directed to close their existing registration forms starting at 5 p.m. today so that data can be cleaned up, consolidated, and transferred to the new system.

However, the FCHD says it will not participate in the statewide system at this time and will instead continue to manage vaccine appointments for everyone in the Fairfax Health District, which includes Fairfax County, the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, and the towns of Vienna, Herndon, and Clifton.

“For those already on the waitlist, do not register again on the new statewide system,” the county health department said.

Fairfax County’s vaccine call center at 703-324-7404 will also continue to be operational, even with the state launching a new call center.

Fairfax County decided to stick with its own registration system because officials believed it would be less confusing for residents, and because the county has “invested a lot of resources” into the system, Fairfax County Health Department spokesperson Tina Dale said.

Dale notes that the FCHD has now registered more than 200,000 people for vaccine appointments through its system.

“We invested a lot of resources into our registration system and worked out the kinks to ensure we continue to process more people than any other health district in the state,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said in a statement. “At this point, I am glad we can maintain our system that residents are familiar with to cut down on confusion. We will continue to have conversations with the state about registration as the vaccine process rolls out.”

Fairfax County’s promised dashboard with COVID-19 vaccine and registration data is also now live. According to the dashboard, 100,248 people in Fairfax County have now received at least one vaccine dose as of 4 p.m. today.

Photo via Fairfax County government