New director of ‘Rap-Rap’ gives regional vaccine update
‘We’ve been trying to favor the older members of the population’
Monday marked Dr. Colin Greene’s rst day as director of the Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District. Greene is stepping in to replace former director Dr. Wade Kartchner, who le at the beginning of March a er serving the district for nearly ve years.
Greene transitioned seamlessly into the role, having served as the health director of the neighboring Lord Fairfax Health District for the past three years. He said he is pleased with the vaccination e orts in his new district, which he a ectionately calls “RapRap.” Greene said new daily cases of COVID-19 are nally dropping into the 20s a er peaking at about 100 cases per day in January.
He said Rap-Rap has been receiving regular shipments of about 2,400 rst doses of COVID-19 vaccine per week from various manufacturers, and several hundred second doses as well. “There are occasional opportunities when there are extra shots available and whenever I hear about that, I reach out and grab them.”
Asked why there are extra vaccines lying around, Greene said he doesn’t know all the details but he guessed that “maybe too much is ordered, or more than likely we just get more than we expected from the federal government.”
The introduction of the Johnson &
Johnson vaccine also brought a surge of new doses to the district.
“When the J and J vaccine came out and Dr. [Danny] Avula down in Richmond said, hey, who can take these, I said I can, we can, and with Dr. Kartchner’s help got some for Rap-Rap also. So RapRap got 2,000 shots of J&J that don’t count against [the district’s] normal number. We’ve also picked up a few thousand extra doses of P zer that became available that are going to be given to the two hospitals in the district,” Greene said.
Fauquier Health in Warrenton and Novant Health in Culpeper both began administering shots to the surrounding communities this past week, vaccinating about 1,000 people over the weekend. “They did an outstanding job and now they’re talking about expanding it, which is great,” Greene said. “That’s essential, because the health department can’t do it all.”
As of Tuesday, about 18.5 percent of residents in the Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District have received at least one shot and close to 10 percent are fully vaccinated.
“We’ve been trying to favor the older members of the population so if you look at the over-65 folks, that number should be much higher,” he added. “Considering it has a relatively small population and it’s a rural spread-out area — which makes it a little hard to get to people sometimes — I’d say we’re doing very well.”
Statewide, 1.5 million Virginians — roughly 17 percent — have received at least one dose, placing Virginia 11th in the country in terms of doses administered and sixth in percentage of allocated doses used.
Greene, who served as the interim commander of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research during the Zika virus epidemic, encourages residents
“There are occasional opportunities when there are extra shots available and whenever I hear about that, I reach out and grab them.”
of Rap-Rap to get whichever vaccine becomes available to them when they become eligible.
Greene served as a doctor in the U.S. Army for 30 years and received his master’s in public health from the University of Washington in Seattle. He has served as the chief medical o cer of a large medical center in Fort Bragg, North Carolina and was also in charge of a small eld hospital in Iraq for almost a year.
In 2008, interior designer Mimi Forbes had a contract with a housing developer who was planning to build a 500-home subdivision in Ruckersville, Va. She imagined she would be working on those houses for years. She thought the contract was going to set her up for life. And then, unexpectedly, the subprime mortgage bubble burst. The developer declared bankruptcy and Forbes’s contract was gone.
“I was about to lose my house,” she said. “It was very touch and go at that time.”
Forbes’ life took another unexpected turn in January of 2009, when she was approached to become the director of a new food pantry in Rappahannock County.
“It was still in the middle of the financial crisis, and so I said sure,” Forbes said. “I became involved with the Fauquier food bank and learned how they ordered everything … and the rest is history.”
The Rappahannock Food Pantry opened in a small building behind the Washington Schoolhouse and then moved its operation to its current location in Sperryville. Since the beginning, Forbes has managed hundreds of volunteers and served hundreds more clients and families.
In 2015, the “irrepressible, irreplaceable director” was honored by the Rappahannock News as the Citizen of The Year. And this year, in May, she’ll receive another recognition from Aging Together as a one of the “5 Over 50” honorees.
Aging Together, a regional nonprofit serving the counties of Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock, launched its “5 Over 50” event eight years ago in order to showcase the service older people are doing in their communities. Each year, the organization selects one nominee from each of the five counties to receive the honor.
“In [Forbes’] nomination, we read that the Rappahannock Food Pantry is in many ways the beating heart of Rappahannock County and Mimi Forbes … is the force at the center of this extraordinary volunteer effort to support our neighbors,” said Ellen Phipps, executive director of Aging Together.
Phipps quoted Gwen Bates, a board member of the Rappahannock Food Pantry and a contributor to Forbes’ nomination: “They threw away the mold after Mimi’s birth. She’s the energizer bunny that engenders us all to hop enthusiastically to her tireless beat. She’s one of the best multitaskers I’ve ever seen, she’s able to respond to multiple questions and issues simultaneously from volunteers, clients, and a ringing phone and she welcomes everybody, clients and volunteers, as if they are family.”
Throughout the pandemic, Forbes has found creative ways to continue serving the food pantry’s clients. “Three times we had to change how we do things,” she said.
When COVID-19 first reached the county a year ago, she and her team of volunteers turned the food pantry inside out so that shoppers could collect their items under tents outside. They carted out boxes of dried and canned goods, coolers of meat, eggs,
milk, and deli items, plus sundries and toiletries.
“I would go home and I would collapse,” Forbes said. “And the next day, I wasn’t worth anything until midday. I was just so tired. It just made me so tired.”
Volunteers — many of whom are over 50 themselves — now give clients a pick sheet to fill out in their cars
and then do the clients’ shopping for them while they wait. “A lot of our volunteers have started coming back, and we’re very lucky to have been able to keep people safe,” she said.
“One of the things about this award — it’s very lovely to be recognized, but I feel a little guilty because I’m just doing my job,” Forbes said. “I’m just doing my job.”