PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A mass-vaccination event will begin inoculating people against COVID at a sports complex in Portsmouth.
The event begins Tuesday at the Portsmouth Sportsplex at 1610 Summit Avenue, and officials say it can vaccinate roughly 1,000 people per day.
Portsmouth was one of three cities that Virginia health officials selected to have a federally run vaccination clinic. The other two are in Petersburg and Danville.
“The new clinic will ramp up vaccinations for Portsmouth and ensure they’re done in an equitable way," Congressman Bobby Scott said at a media briefing for the site Monday.
The locations were chosen based on their senior populations and the proportion of Black and Latino residents. The area’s rate of hospitalizations and deaths also factored into the choosing of the site.
About 54 percent of Portsmouth residents are Black but only 43 percent of doses there have gone to Black people. Those percentages drew concerns from public health officials.
“'When will we have the vaccine in our area?' We know Black and brown people have been disadvantaged because they have not had access to the vaccine. So I'm truly grateful," State Sen. Louise Lucas said.
According to health officials, there were some early issues at the state's Danville mass vaccination center on Monday morning.
"There were 3,000 vaccinations scheduled for Danville. They were set, but everybody showed up at 8 a.m., so I encourage to people to listen: there are plenty of vaccines," said Erin Sutton with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
Sutton added that hundreds had shown up without a registration, too, and is advising people from not showing up to the Portsmouth location without an official appointment.
Portsmouth Officials ask that people follow these instructions:
- All vaccinations will be by appointment, only. There will be no walk-up registrations and no walk-up vaccinations. Those who arrive without an appointment will be turned away.
- If you do have an appointment, please do not arrive at the CVC earlier than 15 minutes before your appointment time.
- Please remember to bring your photo identification.
- Those individuals who have not yet pre-registered for the COVID-19 vaccine and would like to receive it, should go to Vaccinate.Virginia.gov or call 1 (877) 829-4682.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.