SUFFOLK, Va. — The race is on to vaccinate more Virginians, but the vaccine supply is low.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) showed the state had only received about two percent of the country's vaccine supply by late February. That's about two million doses.
By Feb. 25, the state had given about 90% of the first doses it received and nearly 60% of its second dose supply.
The push is on to increase access to the shot, to help pick up the pace. So, private practices have started getting involved, asking for more doses.
So far, medical practices across Virginia have used about 38% of the first and second doses they've received.
Cornerstone Private Practice staff said persistence was the key to getting their vaccine allocation. They said on a call with state leaders this week, providers were told to gear up for more doses.
'The call was very much like, 'You’ve done a great job up until this point, but you really need to buckle up and get ready for a huge push of vaccines,'" said Cornerstone Executive Director, Jennifer Mikell.
Mikell said it was encouraging to hear after they tried for two months to get vaccine doses. The office almost received COVID vaccines last month, but limited supplies across the state changed plans.
“We were really fighting for it because we wanted it for our patients,” Mikell said.
At the start of February, the doses finally came.
Dr. Christopher Dowd owns the Suffolk office. He said staff there have given out 572 first doses.
“The first woman we called to invite her to come in for a vaccine broke down in tears,” Dowd said.
Their allocation came out of the Western Tidewater Health Department’s own supply from the state.
“We got through that little bit of a hard stretch,” said WTHD Emergency Manager, Will Drewery. “We have been able to provide the practices that are registered and enrolled with us completely everything that they have asked for.”
Drewery said they were giving vaccines to all 24 providers that applied, which was extending their reach to the community.
“It gives us a good relief mechanism to be able to focus our efforts elsewhere, for maybe a population who is underserved or less served by a healthcare system,” Drewery said.
Interested providers need to apply on the VDH website and wait to hear from their local health department. Health officials said the application process shows the CDC and VDH that the practice is prepared and ready to handle the vaccines.
Mikell recommends an action plan.
“You have to be able to pivot quickly,” Mikell said. “Our first doses arrived, I think, 4 and a half hours late. We had to push all these appointments back.”
Dowd said the hustle was worth it, when he saw the relief on patients’ faces.
“They have been trying, they have been doing the online things, not getting through,” Dowd said. “And to come into their doctor’s office where they are comfortable. There is a lot of happiness.”