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VDH: Icy weather delays shipment of 106,000+ COVID-19 vaccine doses to Virginia

Parts of Virginia were seeing ice, rain and sleet Thursday, but a release from the VDH said conditions farther west were the main problem.

NORFOLK, Va. — Some Hampton Roads vaccinations clinics are being rescheduled due to shipment delays caused by severe weather. 

Thursday afternoon, the Virginia Department of Health said winter weather across the United States was delaying COVID-19 vaccine shipments to Virginia health departments.

Parts of Virginia were seeing ice, rain, and sleet Thursday, but a release from the VDH said conditions farther west were the main problem.

"The Commonwealth will likely see a delay in the delivery of approximately 106,800 doses, due to distribution channels in the Midwest and elsewhere that are currently shut down," the release says.

It's not just shipping, though. Some vaccine producers were behind schedule due to the weather.

"The vaccine and ancillary supplies are produced in multiple locations throughout the country using several hub connections to deliver vaccines directly to providers," says the release. "Two percent of Virginia’s providers are seeing delayed ancillary supply kits."

The state health department said several vaccination events would have to be rescheduled for people who had appointments to get those doses.

In Hampton Roads, the Greater Williamsburg Clinic, which also serves James City and York counties, canceled vaccinations on Wednesday and Friday. 

Nicole Trifone, a spokesperson for the city of Williamsburg, said those events have been rescheduled for next week at the Colonial Williamsburg Visitors Center. 

The Chesapeake Health Department will also reschedule clinics scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Spokesperson Kimi Stevens said the department will reschedule shortly and notify people individually to make accommodations. 

"A lot of work for our team," said Stevens. "But those of us in public health have learned if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong, and we are prepared." 

As for next week, Stevens said it is unclear because "we have no idea about shipments yet." 

VDH representative Logan Anderson said people who were scheduled to receive vaccines will be contacted. 

“If vaccination eves are postponed due to weather or shipment delays, providers will reschedule these events and reach out to individuals with directions about updated appointments," he said. 

RELATED: Winter weather | Virginia State Police respond to 270 crashes in 11 hours

The spokesperson for VDH said it's not just Virginia's roads that have to clear to open those supply lines back up; highways in the Midwest were a part of the route for Virginia vaccines.

Delores Paulding, senior nurse manager at the Norfolk Department of Public Health, said the department has enough vaccine supply to handle vaccinations into next week. 

"The Norfolk Health Department has enough vaccine for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of next week. It will become critical if the shipment doesn’t arrive by Thursday of next week," said Paulding. 

Virginia Beach Health Department officials said it had enough vaccine supply for clinics scheduled through Saturday. 

The release said the department was working with federal vaccine partners to get specific details about the delays and was hoping to "mitigate" the impact on Virginians who are next on the waitlist.

"When the severe weather ends, VDH expects shipments to resume as normal," said the release.

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