RICHMOND, Va. — Amid criticism over a slow coronavirus vaccine roll-out, officials at the Virginia Department of Health said they don’t have enough doses for everyone.
The state’s Vaccine Coordinator, Dr. Danny Avula also pointed to a delay in the state’s online reporting system as one reason behind an apparent lag in vaccine doses.
Virginia is moving into phase 1b of the vaccination process.
Here in Hampton Roads, Sentara Healthcare is still focusing on phase 1a because there are still many healthcare workers who haven't gotten the shot.
According to the latest updates on Sentara’s website, just under 40 percent of staff received the first dose.
“We actually do not have enough vaccine coming in each week to meet the demand," Avula said. "We’re only getting about 100,000 - 110,000 doses per week for the entire state.”
Avula said demand is high and supply is short.
“This past week we had 300,000 dose requests," he said. “There’s just not enough to meet that demand.”
Riverside Health System is in modified phase 1b, meaning Riverside patients ages 75 and older are getting vaccinated.
According to the state, people aged 65 and up are eligible for the shot in 1b, but Riverside is adjusting because there are not enough doses for everyone.
According to a statement released by Riverside, the hospital has a goal of vaccinating 5,000 people per week, if supplies allow. But right now, supplies are short.
Avula said the lag in vaccinations isn’t as bad as most people think.
“One of the things that I think has been really challenging for the public to understand is that when you look at the data I know you see that we have 940,000 vaccines that have been distributed to Virginia but only 320,000 that have been administered. And I think I like everyone is trying to understand, are the really 600,000 doses that are sitting on the shelf? And I want to clarify that’s not the case at all," he said.
Avula explained, one problem is a delay in the data. He said what’s in their online system doesn’t always accurately reflect the number of doses administered. He said the Virginia Department of Health is working to fix that.
“There’s a delay and some data quality work we need to do to ensure a better transmission of information," he said.
“When I show them [vaccinators] what our data system show, they’re saying, 'No we have done most of our vaccinations. It’s just not showing up in the systems.'”
