Citing a “severely reduced” dose allocation, Inova says it has suspended the administration of these first injections “in the foreseeable future”.
Northern Virginia residents who expected to receive their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine soon at an Inova hospital or clinic will have to wait longer.
In a statement on Monday, Inova announced that it had stopped initial doses on Tuesday “for the foreseeable future”.
Inova noted that Virginia health officials have made changes that mean doses will now be sent directly to health districts. This, they said, “severely decreased” Inova’s vaccine allocation.
“When we receive more inventory of supplies, we will first prioritize patients who have an appointment scheduled and then we will focus on opening more appointments for eligible groups,” the statement said. Those who have received the first dose and are scheduled for a second will also be prioritized.
But all of this will take time: for now, the community is receiving just 105,000 doses a week from the federal government.
And Fairfax County Board President Jeff McKay explained in his own statement on Monday that it is not just a nationwide shortage that is causing the local crisis. It is also due to the change in Virginia’s distribution to “per capita, as opposed to the values [counties and hospitals] has ordered. “
The county, McKay said, will work to help Inova honor its commitments to people who have already had commitments.
“We will also continue to work on our registration queue and offer appointments in the order that people registered,” he said.
Virginia is currently in Phase 1B of its launch of the COVID-19 vaccine. This group includes K-12 educators. And after learning that officials at Fairfax County Public Schools would have to wait longer for an injection from Inova, a teachers’ union asked the district to adjust plans to bring students back to classrooms.
“We urge Fairfax County Public Schools to change the return to school schedule, given current health indicators and this unfortunate change in vaccine availability for school staff,” said Tina Williams, president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers .
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