SUFFOLK, Va. — With the Johnson & Johnson vaccine now available in Virginia, health district leaders are working to get their hands on thousands of doses.
Will Drewery, the public health emergency manager for the Western Tidewater Health District, said the Virginia Department of Health was setting the Johnson & Johnson vaccines aside for mass vaccination clinics.
Drewery said his district was hoping to hold just such an event soon.
“There is a level of planning involved and there is a level of coordination that has to be involved before we can turn a site on," he said.d
Last week, Virginia received 69,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Health leaders said the single-dose shot is a game-changer.
“It is what we have prepared for. It's what we are used to doing and it's an opportunity to get many people vaccinated very quickly,” Drewery said.
The question many people want to know is when their health district will receive the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Drewery said it comes down to when leaders can schedule a mass vaccination clinic.
“Once we have a site identified and we have a date identified, we will make the request up in Richmond and they will either say 'yes' or 'no.' You get the vaccine and once we have it in hand, we will go with the site as planned,” he explained.
Drewery said the process to plan a mass-vaccination event doesn't happen overnight.
He said in Western Tidewater, leaders schedule vaccination sites about two weeks ahead. He would only say the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be available in his district "soon."
“I would be hesitant to give an exact date," he explained. "I will say again that we are planning for a mass site soon, that would be the answer I would give.”
13News Now reached out to other Hampton Roads Health Districts. Virginia Beach leaders said they anticipate getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but didn't have a firm date on when they would receive it.