COVID-19 cases decline slightly as Fairfax County opens vaccines to all adults

All Fairfax County adults can now get the COVID-19 vaccine — if they’re able to find an appointment.

The Fairfax Health District, including the county, the cities of Falls Church and Fairfax, and the towns of Vienna, Herndon, and Clifton, entered Phase 2 of its vaccination campaign yesterday (Sunday), expanding eligiblity to everyone 16 and older.

As part of the transition, the Fairfax County Health Department closed its registration system and is now directing people to use VaccineFinder to locate providers that they can work with directly to schedule an appointment. The department’s call center is also open for anyone who needs assistance at 703-324-7404.

https://twitter.com/fairfaxcounty/status/1383842985704493066

However, county officials warned that appointments might be difficult to come by initially with supplies falling short of demand. All available appointments at CVS stores in the Fairfax County area, for instance, appear to be fully booked, including in Reston, Herndon, Vienna, and Falls Church.

According to its vaccine data dashboard, the county health department received 55,260 first and second doses for the week of April 12-18, down from more than 65,000 doses the previous week, and that is expected to decline further over the next couple of weeks.

With the county anticipating only 30,000 total doses per week, available supplies are being prioritized for remaining Phase 1 individuals.

As of 10 a.m. today (Monday), the health department has just over 8,000 people left on its waitlist, which stopped taking new registrations at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday (April 17) just before Phase 2 began. The county is currently making appointments for people who registered on April 14 and has registered 436,466 people overall.

A quarter of Virginians have now been fully vaccinated, including 272,533 Fairfax County residents, and nearly 40% have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

While vaccinations have moved forward, Fairfax County’s COVID-19 transmission levels have stayed relatively consistent over the past month. The weekly average has dropped from 194.4 cases on April 13 to 155.7 cases today, but it has remained within that range since mid-March.

The Fairfax Health District recorded 116 new cases today for a total of 75,565 cases over the course of the pandemic, which has hospitalized 3,909 people and killed 1,090 people in the district.

Images via CDC on Unsplash, Virginia Department of Health