VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The City of Virginia Beach is receiving fewer vaccines this week than it did last week, frustrating city leaders who said they're limited in how many vaccination appointments they can schedule due to a supply shortage.
Virginia Beach reported receiving about 5,200 COVID-19 vaccine doses this week, compared to 5,800 doses last week. This is not counting an additional supply provided by Sentara Healthcare last week.
The Virginia Department of Health distributes vaccines based on population. Currently, the Commonwealth receives about 105,000 doses per week from the federal government.
"My personal frustration is not only with the level of the vaccine that we’re getting, but also the lack of information we’re getting from Richmond," Virginia Beach Vice Mayor Jim Wood said. "We should know exactly how many doses we’re getting well in advance so we can plan these mass vaccination clinics."
City leaders like Wood said Virginia Beach has the capacity to do much more, but are limited despite promises of a growing supply from the state and federal government levels.
Information sent from City Manager Patrick Duhaney to Mayor Bobby Dyer and city council reports Virginia Beach expects around 5,000 doses per week for the rest of February.
“Based on that we’re talking years before everybody is fully vaccinated," Wood said. “Send us as much vaccine as you can, we will get it in people’s arms.”
Wood said Virginia Beach could easily administer 5,000 doses in just two days at the Virginia Beach Convention Center site. He said the city could run 10 or 15 clinics a week. Right now, Virginia Beach offers about three per week, based on the vaccine supply.
Monday, healthcare workers and medical volunteers used Moderna vials to vaccinate hundreds of people at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.
Wood said Virginia Beach has shown a commitment to this vaccination effort and deserves more doses for its resources.
“We’ve got 110 people working there per day just to facilitate this, we’ve closed rec centers and libraries just to get people to come over there," he said. "Public enemy number one is COVID.”
City Councilman Michael Berlucchi said Virginia Beach leaders have heard frustration from people about the city's vaccine registration site, and the city is working to make it easier to understand who's eligible.
Berlucchi and Wood both said the vaccine distribution in Virginia Beach has become much more efficient over the past week since the start of Phase 1B on January 25.
On Monday afternoon, there were no lines outside the Virginia Beach Convention Center for people waiting for shots, and multiple recipients called the process "easy" and "exciting."
