NORFOLK, Va. — Health districts across Hampton Roads are calling for volunteers as they wait for more vaccine supply.
"As we get more opportunities to vaccinate, we are going to need more help to do it," said Paul Brumund, Virginia Department of Health COO for Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
Health districts, including Norfolk, have repeatedly called on the state to distribute more vaccine doses in order to speed up distribution. In the meantime, the Norfolk Health District wants to prepare for mass vaccination, even though it remains unclear when that will be possible.
In order to to be ready, volunteers are needed, said Brumund.
“When we get to the point where we have a lot of vaccines and we’re doing thousands of doses a day for multiple days of the week -- if not every day of the week -- we need a lot of people,” he said.
Vaccinators are not the only need. The health district will also need help with non-medical related tasks, including registration.
“There’s a lot of things that non-medical people can do," said Brumund. "We need them to volunteer.”
Brumund asks interested people to contact their local health districts and join the Medical Reserve Corps. Volunteers will receive training and credentials for jobs based on his or her skills.
Norfolk Public Health employees are working over 80 hours per week to accommodate COVID-19 vaccine distribution, according to Brumund. Meanwhile, the department must maintain its regular duties outside of the pandemic response.
For more information about your area, you can call (757) 683-2760 or click here.