CHESAPEAKE, Va. — According to the Virginia Department of Health’s website, the City of Chesapeake is the latest Hampton Roads community to be listed under “Phase 1B” of coronavirus vaccine distribution in the Commonwealth.
However, local health officials say it’s not so cut and dry.
“We are not full-on Phase 1B, we’re just not. We can’t be until we finish 1A.” said Kimi Stevens, spokesperson for the Chesapeake Health Department.
Both Gloucester and Mathews counties have moved into Phase 1B as part of the larger Three Rivers Health District. More than 304,000 Virginians have received their first dose of the vaccine, and more than 36,000 people are fully vaccinated.
Vaccinations for some people in Phase 1B have taken place over the last several weeks in Chesapeake, including some school staff within Chesapeake Public Schools, as the return to in-person learning resumes on Tuesday.
Still, Stevens said the department is still not fully within the Phase 1B distribution plan. In an effort to use as many doses of the vaccine as they have, Stevens said they’ve used a “blended” approach to vaccinate both 1A and 1B individuals at the same time.
According to Stevens, there has been no formal announcement or press release made over the fact that some individuals within those population groups have received their vaccinations.
“The reason we don’t have so much on hand either is this isn’t like the flu vaccine. They can’t just send us a warehouse full of it. So safety of the vaccine is paramount,” Stevens said.
Phase 1B guidelines limit vaccinations to the following groups:
- Police, Fire, and Hazmat
- Corrections and homeless shelter workers
- Childcare/PreK-12 Teachers/Staff (public and private)
- Food and Agriculture (including veterinarians)
- Manufacturing
- Grocery store workers
- Public transit workers
- Mail carriers (USPS and private)
- Officials needed to maintain continuity of government (including judges and public-facing judicial workers)
While Chesapeake shows online that it’s currently in Phase 1B, Stevens said the vaccine is still not widely available to every individual within those population groups.
Supply and demand frequently change the department’s vaccine requests, and at the moment, the process is still heavily reliant on private employers.
“The entire process involves how much vaccine we receive. We put our order in on Monday, and then find out how much we get on Wednesday,” Stevens said.
A new COVID vaccine information hotline has been established to answer vaccine-related questions. Stevens said the line will be live sometime this week.