About 40% of Fairfax County residents 16 and older are now eligible to register for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment after Virginia expanded phase 1b to include anyone 65 and older as well as people with medical conditions or a disability that puts them at high risk of severe illness if they contract the disease.

Eligible populations now include:

• Healthcare workers and long-term care facility employees
• People age 65 and older
• People who are 16-64 years old and have high-risk medical conditions
• Essential frontline workers, including school staff, corrections and homeless shelter workers, grocery store workers, and police, fire, and hazmat first responders

However, the Fairfax County Health Department’s registration system has been plagued by technical issues and struggled keep up with the high demand for the vaccines. In addition, limited supplies mean that even people who are able to register might have to wait months to secure an appointment.

While the process has been less than ideal so far, Fairfax County has administered more than 45,000 vaccine doses, and 4,620 residents have been fully vaccinated, as of Jan. 20, according to Virginia Department of Health data.

Have you been able to successfully register for the COVID-19 vaccine yet? Have you tried to register but been frustrated by the county’s system? If you’re not eligible yet, are you planning to get vaccinated once you are?

Photo by Karen Bolt/Fairfax County Public Schools

The Town of Vienna joined other communities across the U.S. yesterday (Tuesday) in taking a moment to mourn and honor the more than 2 million people around the world who have died from COVID-19 over the past year.

About two dozen mask-wearing town residents and public officials gathered at the corner of Park and Church streets in front of the Vienna Presbyterian Church to ring the chapel bells for 20 minutes starting at 5:30 p.m.

“Given our longstanding existence in this community, it’s really important for us to help lead these types of efforts, so we wanted to ring the bells so the whole community can hear,” Vienna Presbyterian Church Director of Missions Sue Hamblen said. “We just thought it was something VPC should do.”

The ceremony commenced with brief remarks from Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert, who was joined by Town Councilmember Howard Springsteen’s wife, Anne Driscoll, as the first bell ringers.

Vienna Presbyterian Church leaders invited staff members and some people in the community who they knew lost a loved one to COVID-19 to sign up in advance to ring the church bell, but anyone who attended was allowed to participate.

Colbert described the vigil as a show of unity fitting for a town where she has seen people support each other with acts of kindness throughout the pandemic.

“This year has been unbelievably sad and challenging for so many people,” Colbert said. “So many sad, unnecessary lives have been lost, and I’m proud that Vienna and that my home church is part of this today.”

Hamblen concluded the ceremony with a prayer that the church’s mission partner in South Africa had shared so that it could be spoken all around the world. She also provided a moment for people to say the names of COVID-19 victims that they knew.

Among those who rang the bell were Vienna Presbyterian Church congregation members Bill and Judy Ichord.

The couple does not personally know anyone who has died from COVID-19, but Judy Ichord has two nieces who work as nurses and contracted the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, one of whom was only in her first year of training at a hospital.

“We just think it’s a time when the country really needs to come together and pull together and remember those who we lost, but also think about the future together as Americans and human beings,” Bill Ichord said. “The whole world needs to heal right now.”

Organized by President Joe Biden’s inaugural committee, the national COVID-19 memorial encouraged people to ring a bell and light a candle for a collective moment of remembrance. It took place on the same day that the U.S. COVID-19 death toll surpassed 400,000, including 754 people in the Fairfax Health District alone, as of this morning.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. to light the Reflecting Pool, while the bell at the National Cathedral rang 400 times, each toll representing 1,000 Americans who have died from the novel coronavirus.

While the pandemic has not yet abated, Hamblen says it’s important for communities to have an opportunity to come together and mourn their losses.

Vienna Presbyterian Church will put a video of the ceremony on its website so that people who were unable to come can watch it.

“It was a collective experience, and so, I think our grief should be collective and our honoring of them should be collective,” Hamblen said. “That’s why we want to do it as a community. We haven’t been able to gather. Funerals haven’t happened, and so, this is our effort to join people together to mourn as a group.”

Fairfax County set a new single-day record for new COVID-19 cases over the three-day weekend leading up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The county’s daily caseload rocketed to 1,485 cases on Sunday (Jan. 17), topping the previous high of 897 cases recorded on Dec. 21 by 588 cases.

The new record was part of a statewide surge that saw Virginia nearly reach 10,000 new cases in one day for the first time since the novel coronavirus was confirmed in the Commonwealth last March. 9,914 cases were reported in the state on Jan. 17, followed by 7,245 cases on Monday, which represented the second-highest daily caseload of the pandemic.

Unlike with previous jumps in new cases, the two-day spike could not be attributed to a lag in reporting.

“This increase is likely due to exposures during the holidays, similar to after Thanksgiving,” the Virginia Department of Health said in a statement reported by Inside NoVA and other news outlets. “VDH reminds Virginians to be vigilant and use the recommended guidance to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

With an additional 313 cases coming in today (Tuesday), the Fairfax Health District has now recorded a total of 55,534 COVID-19 cases, 749 deaths, and 3,191 hospitalizations.

This weekend’s surge came as Virginia expanded eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccines to new populations, including people who are 65 and older or have high-risk medical conditions or a disability.

Fairfax County continues to outpace other jurisdictions in the state in administering vaccinations, delivering 43,161 doses as of this morning. 4,393 people in the county have been fully vaccinated, meaning they have received the required two shots of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.

However, limited supplies and technical issues have complicated the vaccine distribution process.

In the week since Fairfax County opened appointments to residents in phase 1b, the online pre-screening registration system and phone hotline set up by the county health department have been overwhelmed by demand multiple times.

As of Jan. 16, more than 40,000 people had registered online or by phone to get a vaccination in the past week, but the vaccine supply “remains very limited,” and not everyone who is registered has been able to secure an actual appointment yet, according to the Fairfax County Health Department.

“We ask for your patience as it may take months to get through these priority groups,” the department said. “There are plans to increase options for vaccine in pharmacies and health care provider options, which over time will give people more choices.”

According to the VDH, Virginia has administered 341,388 vaccine doses total and distributed 943,400 doses. The state is administering 17,464 doses every day, still well shy of the 25,000 vaccinations-per-day goal set by Gov. Ralph Northam.

Image via CDC on Unsplash, chart via Virginia Department of Health

The first day of pre-screening and COVID-19 vaccine registration for Fairfax County residents between the ages of 65 and 74 and those with high-risk medical conditions began with a bumpy start after the county’s system went down for most of the morning on Monday (Jan. 18).

Now, as the system returns to normal and vaccine registration resumes, county officials are urging residents to remain patient. Instead of contacting the county through the health department’s vaccine hotline, officials encourage residents to complete an online pre-screening form and appointment questionnaire.

At the same time, some residents — including frontline healthcare workers who received the first dose of the vaccine in December — say they’re still receiving uncertain answers about when to schedule their second dose.

A local healthcare worker told Tysons Reporter’s sister site, Reston Now, that she and several others she knows have had trouble receiving any information from the health department on when the second dose will take be administered. All residents receive a vaccination card and are required to receive a second dose of the two-course vaccine roughly four weeks after the first dose.

But some say they haven’t received any information on when the second dose will be available.

“I have called the department hundreds of times to attempt to schedule the second required vaccine,” a healthcare worker told Reston Now. “A week ago, I literally called 50 times and was unable to get through to speak to someone.”

When residents were able to get someone on the line, the information provided was scant, the source told Reston Now.

“A system that is already overloaded is becoming even more overwhelmed,” she said.

Tina Dale, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Health Department, told Reston Now that residents do not need to call the health department to schedule the second dose of the vaccine. The health department will provide residents with a link to schedule their next appointment by email.

The earliest the second dose can be administered by the health department is late this week, but it may be weeks before registered residents receive information from the health department to set an appointment.

Within the first few hours of pre-registration expanding on Monday, the county received more than 33,000 new registrations. Gov. Ralph Northam recently expanded the number of eligible Virginians who can register for the vaccine.

Now, more than 40 percent of the county’s total population is eligible to register. The Fairfax County Public Schools System began vaccinating employees on Jan. 16. Vaccinations for FCPS are offered through the Inova Center for Personalized Health in Fairfax.

Once residents complete the pre-screening process through the online form or by phone, they will be contacted by the health department to schedule an appointment. The county has also launched a webpage with commonly asked questions about the vaccine.

The technical difficulties that plagued the vaccine registration system on Monday were the result of “a cloud-based problem” with the vendor that Fairfax County uses for the sign-up form, according to Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust.

“While we want to encourage everyone who is eligible to register, our ability to vaccinate is entirely dependent on vaccine being sent to us from the state,” Foust said in a newsletter. “Your patience will be critical both in registering and understanding that we have a very limited supply of vaccines coming from the state and we are constantly working to get more.”

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Alcorn said that while he understands the issues were unforeseen, the challenges so far are “still not acceptable.”

“We need to do better.”

The technical issues with our vaccine registration system have been resolved. Thank you for your patience. If you meet the criteria and are eligible to register to schedule an appointment, you can now do so online. https://t.co/sej7N0M4To

— Jeff McKay (@JeffreyCMcKay) January 18, 2021

Photo by Karen Bolt/Fairfax County Public Schools

More than 40% of Fairfax County residents 16 and older are now in line to receive the COVID-19 vaccine following Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s expansion of eligibility requirements.

People age 65 and above, and people between the ages of 16 and 64 with high-risk medical conditions can now register to receive the vaccine as part of phase 1b. Prior to Northam’s announcement yesterday, these groups were part of the next phase of the vaccine’s administration.

But county officials say it may take months to get through phase 1b, which prioritizes people age 75 and above and essential frontline workers like school staff, police, and grocery store workers.

“The ability to schedule appointments will depend on the supply of vaccine available,” the county wrote in a statement yesterday. “The vaccine supply in the U.S. is still very limited and is expected to increase gradually over the next months.“

Although it may take weeks before vaccines are formally administered, the Fairfax County Health Department will begin registering individuals in the newly-eligible group on Jan. 18.

Northam expects all Virginians to be vaccinated by the middle of the summer.

“This means about half of Virginia is now eligible to receive the vaccine. That’s a major logistical effort, and it’s not going to happen overnight,” he said.

So far, the state has received 943,000 doses of the vaccine and administered roughly 242,000 doses. On average, the state is administering 12,000 doses daily — far from the governor’s long-term goal of 50,000 doses. Overall, the state is receiving 110,000 doses of the vaccine per week.

Northam is also encouraging schools to reopen, noting that six months of data from schools around the state suggests that schools can reopen if appropriate safety protocols are in place. The newly-released guidance creates a five-step program to guide decision-making on reopening.

The county plans to launch an online form to register for the vaccine today via its vaccine webpage. Residents should be able to schedule a time themselves based on eligibility, availability of appointments, and vaccine interview, according to Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn.

The health department introduced a pre-screening form on Monday (Jan. 11) to allow people to pre-register for the vaccine. Residents can also call the county’s vaccine hotline at 703-324-7404 on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. and on weekends between 9;30 a.m. and 5 p.m. The department will contact individuals who complete the pre-screening form depending on vaccine supply and appointment availability.

Demand for the vaccine flooded the county’s call lines on Monday, prompting local elected officials to encourage the county to improve its communications strategy.

Meanwhile, Walgreens is offering rapid antigen testing across select locations in the state. The new partnership with the Virginia Department of Health, which was announced yesterday, allows adults and children age three and above to receive a test. Walgreen’s testing site is located in Centreville at 13926 Lee Highway.

Photo via Fairfax County Health Department

Virginia Issues New Guidance to Support Schools Reopening — “A school division’s capacity to successfully implement mitigation strategies AND local community disease data should be factored into school operations plans…As local school and health leaders evaluate and adjust instructional offerings in 2021, they must carefully balance the risks associated with operating during a pandemic and the long-term effects of students not attending school in person.” [Virginia Department of Education]

Vienna Planning Commission Kicks Off Comprehensive Plan Review — Virginia law requires localities to review their comprehensive plan every five years. Planning commissioners don’t expect this new review to be as extensive as the Town of Vienna’s last update in 2016, but some sections, such as the chapter dealing with economic development, could be in need of revision. [Town of Vienna]

Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office Starts COVID-19 Vaccinations — “Today was the day! We are so very grateful to get the COVID-19 vaccine. @VDHgov @fairfaxhealth #FairfaxStrong” [Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office/Twitter]

Staff Photo by Jay Westcott

Fairfax County workers whose jobs put them at high risk of exposure to COVID-19 could receive a one-time hazard pay bonus of $1,500 if county leaders approve a proposal put forward on Tuesday (Jan. 12).

Fairfax County Director of Human Resources Cathy Spage told the Board of Supervisors during its budget policy committee meeting that about 4,000 county employees would be eligible for the bonus, giving the proposal an overall estimated cost of $6.5 million.

If approved, the funds would come out of $10 million in CARES Act coronavirus relief money that the county had set aside earlier for hazard pay, according to Fairfax County Department of Management and Budget Director Christina Jackson.

“I think there’s a strong desire on the board to move forward with something,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said. “I know there’s still some lingering debate on some pieces of this, but I think the principle here is one that is strongly supported.”

Under the county’s proposal, the hazard pay bonus will be available to workers whose exposure risk level is rated high or very high based on Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) standards established by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry.

Adopted on July 15, the VOSH COVID-19 risk assessment puts workers in very high, high, medium, and lower risk categories based on their work environment, their proximity to people known or suspected to be infected, their ability to maintain social distancing, and other factors.

The bonus will only be open to merit employees, because the lack of standard schedules for non-merit employees would make it “problematic” to include them, according to Jackson.

Several board members raised concerns about employees being excluded from getting hazard pay despite risking infection by the novel coronavirus as part of their job. For instance, the VOSH standard classifies school settings, restaurants, and construction sites as medium risk.

“There have been outbreaks on construction sites. We know that it happens,” Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw said. “Based on what I’ve read of the VOSH medium-risk categories, some of them probably make sense. Some of them make me a little bit concerned in terms of how they’re categorizing folks.” Read More

Fairfax County will receive an additional $34 million to provide emergency rental assistance to residents experiencing economic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a budget policy committee meeting yesterday (Tuesday), Fairfax County Department of Management and Budget Director Christina Jackson told the county board of supervisors that the department has submitted a certification for the award, and the amount is expected to be confirmed today.

The money comes from a $25 billion emergency rental assistance program that the U.S. Treasury Department established using funds from the COVID-19 relief package that Congress passed at the end of December.

“This will be huge,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said. “I know we feel good about it, but obviously, there are a lot of folks out there struggling, and this will be a great opportunity to help those folks.”

Under the treasury program, renters may be eligible to receive assistance if at least one or more people in their household has experienced financial hardship due to the pandemic, are at risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability, or have a household income at or below 80% of the area median income.

Applicants can receive up to 12 months of assistance, with the possibility of an additional three months if needed to ensure housing stability and funds are still available.

The treasury is allocating the funds directly to states and local governments with more than 200,000 residents.

Jackson says the treasury is required to disperse all of the program funds by the end of January, so the county should have “dollars in hand” by the end of the month.

“We’re working with staff to try to incorporate this funding with other awards that we’ve received to make sure we’re using all the resources to our advantage,” Jackson said.

Because of the incoming grant, the Fairfax County Department of Management and Budget is recommending that the county increase its COVID-19 grants reserve by $50 million as part of its Fiscal Year 2021 mid-year budget review.

To offset anticipated revenue losses, the county plans to take $9.1 million out of a general fund reserve that the board of supervisors set up in May to support its coronavirus response efforts.

If the adjustment is approved, the COVID-19 reserve will have $16 million remaining, including roughly $12 million that the county mostly plans to use for Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursements.

As part of the mid-year review, Fairfax County staff are also recommending that the county create 13 new positions in the health department to boost its pandemic response, especially when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccination program. The positions would be initially covered by federal stimulus funds.

“We’re in constant contact with the health department relative to the continuous pivoting in response to COVID,” Fairfax County Chief Financial Officer Joe Mondoro said. “There are a number of other activities that they’re undertaking to respond to…whether that’s the need for additional contact tracers, whether that’s the escalation of the vaccination requirements.”

The board of supervisors will hold a public hearing and take action on the FY 2021 budget mid-year review when it meets on Jan. 26.

Photo via Fairfax County government/Facebook

Fairfax County Sheriff’s Deputy Dies in Jail COVID-19 Outbreak — “A veteran Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office deputy has died of covid-19 amid an outbreak of the coronavirus at the county jail that has sickened more than 30 guards and inmates in recent days, authorities said.” [The Washington Post]

Northern Virginia Critical Incident Response Team Launches — 11 local law enforcement agencies, including the police departments of Vienna and Falls Church City, have agreed to assist each other on investigations where an officer could face criminal charges, such as a shooting or in-custody death. [City of Falls Church]

How Office Development Rules Limit Walkability in Tysons — “While new developments in Tysons are improving the area’s density and walkability, some of them retain characteristics of the county’s historically suburban character. In particular, regulatory barriers prevent office development in Tysons from having the features of the most walkable pedestrian environments.” [Greater Greater Washington]

Hundreds of Residents Donated to Tysons Corner Blood Drives in 2020 — “The blood drives were wildly successful ultimately yielding 1,757 total blood donations helping over 5,200 patients get the necessary blood, plasma, and platelet transfusions needed to heal.” [Tysons Partnership]

Louise Archer Students Earn Honors in Vocabulary Competition — “Several teams representing Louise Archer Elementary achieved highest honors in the recent WordMasters Challenge™, a national vocabulary competition involving nearly 125,000 students annually.” [FCPS]

Staff photo by Angela Woolsey

Following a flood of demand yesterday, Fairfax County plans to launch a new online COVID-19 vaccine registration system as early as tomorrow that will allow residents to schedule an appointment, the county’s information technology department told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors during an information technology committee meeting today.

Virignia Gov. Ralph Northam announced on Friday (Jan. 8) that the Fairfax Health District is one of several districts in the state to jumpstart the next phase of vaccinations. Priority groups in this phase include adults age 75 and older and frontline essential workers like police and grocery store workers.

Fairfax County introduced a pre-registration tool yesterday (Monday) after overwhelming demand from people looking to schedule an appointment to get vaccinated jammed county phone lines and flooded the overall system.

The pre-registration form determines whether an individual is eligible to get a vaccine dose at this time, but applicants need to wait to be contacted by the Fairfax County Health Department — likely by email — to set up an appointment. The form launched earlier than originally anticipated in order to shift demand from the county’s phone line to the online system.

During the IT committee meeting, some members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors expressed dismay at the initial rollout of the registration system and phone line, which received nearly 1.2 million calls and more than 286,000 voicemails yesterday. The system was jammed within an hour of the phone line going up.

Jeff McKay, the board’s chairman, said that he was concerned the board did not receive information about the issues facing the county until around 6 p.m. yesterday.

“I know it is disappointing that we weren’t better prepared for this,” McKay said. “I will say that we need to be a lot quicker.”

He also noted that residents should be aware that phase 1b is not a first-come, first-serve system. Frontline essential workers will be vaccinated in a pre-determined order, with police, fire, and hazmat workers at the top of the list.

The county is testing out the new system today in cooperation with the Fairfax County Health Department, according to Gregory Scott, director of the county’s department of information technology.

The IT department also plans to implement a virtual system with automated chatbots and work with external vendors to help manage call volume. The county also routed some calls to a voice message that said to call back later due to busy phone lines.

“Everybody was in this predicament yesterday morning,” Scott said.

Staff noted that additional manpower may be needed to manage call volume and respond to registration forms to sort out missing or conflicting information.

Fairfax County hopes to automate as much of the registration process as much as possible. For instance, the county health department says residents who are ready to get a second dose of the vaccine will likely receive an email about registering.

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn, who chairs the IT committee, encouraged the county to ensure the registration form is friendly for seniors. The first version of the preregistration form that went online yesterday required providing a cell phone, for example.

The new registration form is expected to be available as early as tomorrow, pending final testing and revisions.

Photo via Fairfax County Health Department