Virginia Beach entering next vaccination phase
Virginia Beach is moving into Phase 1c of the state’s vaccine prioritization plan, the city announced Thursday.
The announcement comes a day after the Chesapeake Health Department made the same move, and hours after Gov. Ralph Northam said all Virginians 16 and up will be eligible for a vaccine starting April 18.
Phase 1c adds a broad range of “other essential workers” including those in wastewater, higher education, hair styling, housing and construction, energy, public safety, media, food service and public health. That’s on top of health care personnel, those 65 and older, frontline essential workers and people age 16 to 64 with an underlying medical condition that increases risk of infection — all already in the first two phases who will continue to receive shots.
Bob Engle, emergency coordinator for the Virginia Beach Department of Public Health, said in the news release that anyone who successfully preregistered in Phases 1a and 1b already should have been sent invitations to schedule an appointment.
If you’re still waiting in those categories, email VaccinateVB@vdh.virginia. gov.
About 6,000 people in the city are registered under phase 1c, Engle said. Virginia Beach expects to transition to Phase 2 — everyone else — soon.
Emails inviting people for shots in Virginia Beach may come through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Administration Management System, a federal tool that some of the state’s localities have been using.
If you’ve received an invitation to schedule an appointment through VAMS and have had trouble finding an available timeslot, officials recommend selecting 23451 as the ZIP code and “limited clinic” as the clinic type. Keep checking the system, as new appointment slots are continually added.
As of Thursday, Virginia Beach officials say 113,709 people in the city have received at least one dose and 60,671 have been fully vaccinated.
The city’s main vaccination site is at the Convention Center. A federal clinic that opened Wednesday at Military Circle in Norfolk also is serving the region, and some Virginia Beach residents will be invited to receive shots at that location.
Meanwhile, local health officials are asking anyone not already preregistered for a vaccine to do so.
There are vaccines available, but their lists are starting to run low on registrations to draw from, a Virginia Department of Health spokesperson said Wednesday.