RICHMOND, Virginia – Virginia’s state vaccine coordinator said the Virginia Department of Health will change the way it allocates doses of the COVID-19 vaccine due to the continuing shortage of the vaccine and that if supply does not increase, it could take between two three months to complete the vaccination of those eligible in Phases 1A and 1B of the launch.
“For now, most recipients should know that they are going to reliably get what they are getting in the next four weeks or so,” said Dr. Danny Avula during a telebriefing on Friday. “We need to control and moderate expectations, because with only several hundred, or in some cases, a few thousand doses reaching each community, there will not be as many places for people to be vaccinated. And then, people who are in 1B and we are looking to be vaccinated, we need to realize that, without a significant change in the vaccine supply, we will be providing two to three months to work in this population. “
On Friday, the Virginia Department of Health’s COVID-19 vaccine panel reported that 1,010,150 doses were distributed in the state, with 424,857 doses administered or just over 42%. According to Bloomberg’s national vaccination tracker, the national average at dawn on Saturday is 49.7%. The average daily vaccine administered over seven days in Virginia is 19,405.
During the briefing, Avula said that her role, which started two weeks ago, to improve vaccine implantation in Virginia is organized in three phases: addressing the notification gap, dealing with the supply and demand problem and building the vaccination infrastructure of the state prepared for an increase in supply.
WTVR
Reporting gap
Avula said that much of his work since he started working has been to account for where Virginia’s vaccine shipments are going and whether or not they are reported quickly when administered.
“At the moment, if you look at the data, you’ll see that there are just under 600,000 doses that haven’t been counted,” said Avula. “There is really a need to understand why this happens, where the doses are and how the public understands the current state of vaccine supply in Virginia.”
Avula reiterated what he and other state leaders have said in the past about the gap between injected and administered injections and said they will never close that gap completely, as shipments arrive each week. He said the difference will be between 170,000 to 200,000 depending on the number of first and second doses administered each week.
“The second additional doses we get vary. Sometimes it’s 60,000. Sometimes a little more,” added Avula.
Avula said on Thursday that approximately 90,000 doses were administered to Virgos, but were not recorded in the state’s database. He said a new team of ten people was deployed this week to help solve this problem.
He also said that most doses of Virginia reserved for the federal partnership with pharmacies Walgreens and CVS to vaccinate residents and staff at long-term care facilities have not yet been used.
“226,000 doses have been reserved for CVS and Walgreens. Now, not all of these doses have been delivered, nor have they all decreased, but they are reserved,” said Avula, who added that on Thursday they had administered about 66,000 doses. “There are a large number of cases, probably about 100,000 at the moment, that have been distributed in Virginia, but have not yet been managed.”
Avula said that she has spoken with the state leadership for these two pharmacies and that they are working to accelerate the rate of vaccination and that they intend to visit all health homes and assisted homes by the end of January. He said that some of the challenges they face include outbreaks at the facility, which prevents when vaccinators can enter, and that the willingness of people at those facilities to receive the vaccine is low.
“We heard anecdotally different numbers that it appears that residents, elderly residents of these facilities have greater absorption – 70 to 80%. But the staff is smaller. It has decreased by about 30 to 40%,” said Avula. He added that some team members are later willing to get vaccinated after seeing their colleagues do so. Avula said they are also in discussions with CVS and Walgreens to relocate some of these vaccines to other pharmacies to help speed up the process. “They are looking at their projections for the amount of vaccine that will need to go through its three phases … and that will be willing to allow us to relocate it to other pharmacies. So, I will probably know Monday or so what that number is and how we would do to address it. “
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Demand is greater than supply
Avula said that Virginia received 105,000 doses last week, although it has orders from around the state for nearly 300,000 doses and they hope to face a similar discrepancy in the coming weeks, so the HDR will begin allocating doses based solely on the percentage of the population.
“So for each community, we know what percentage of the population they have and then we assign that percentage of this week’s distribution to them,” said Avula. “What we also did was to really trust our local health departments like the ESF [Emergency Support Functions]… Lead your community to coordinate the response. “
Avula said that local health departments were informed about the amount of vaccine that their districts would receive and worked with their partners to determine how doses would be distributed in their districts.
“So it looks different from district to district. In some cases, health departments and hospitals are working hand in hand to make PODs on a large scale [point of dispensing], “added Avula.” In different areas, you will have different vaccine channels. Part of this will happen through large-scale vaccinations, part of it will happen through partnerships with pharmacies that serve segments of the population.
“The health departments are really working hard to figure out how to prioritize this vaccine. We continue to prioritize 1A individuals who did not, who may not have been vaccinated in the first round and therefore will be referred to available clinics,” said Avula . “And then we have this very large group 1B. And I think the challenge of that is when you’re only getting a few thousand doses a week to be distributed between hospitals, healthcare systems, healthcare departments, providers and pharmacies – how do you do that in a way that comes close to meeting demand? And the answer is no. You can’t. And, understandably, it generated a lot of confusion and frustration on the part of our audience that says, ‘Hey, I’m in 1B. Why not can I find a place to get vaccinated? ‘ “
Avula said that health departments and their partners must provide capacity each week for the 65+ portion of 1B and simultaneously provide vaccination opportunities for essential frontline workers.
Avula was asked whether in the future, due to limited vaccine supply, health districts should stop the practice of allowing people outside their jurisdiction to participate in open POD events to obtain the vaccine. Avula said he would watch to see how this problem arises.
“If there are situations where this appears to be abused or is creating major injustices, because people in a neighboring district are more able to drive themselves across the country,” said Avula. “So, we will need to remember this and revisit … are we more restrictive about where we live?”
WTVR
Preparation for mass vaccination clinics
Finally, Avula said that the third phase of HRD planning is to build the infrastructure for mass vaccination clinics that will be needed to achieve Governor Ralph Northam’s goal of 50,000 vaccinations a day and inoculate 70% to 80% of the population and obtain immunity herd.
Avula said there is also a huge capacity in the state’s health systems and health departments, but they also have about 2,000 provider groups and 400 pharmacies that have been approved to provide vaccines.
“I have no concerns about getting to 50,000 doses a day,” said Avula. “Only we don’t have the vaccine.”
Count on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for complete coverage of this important developing story.
Precautions with covid19
Most patients with COVID-19 have mild to moderate symptoms. However, in a small proportion of patients, COVID-19 can lead to more serious illnesses, including death, especially among those who are older or those who have chronic medical conditions.
COVID-19 spreads mainly through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
Symptoms include fever, cough and difficulty breathing. Symptoms appear within 14 days of exposure to an infectious person.
Virginia health officials recommended the following precautions:
- Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer only if soap and water are not available.
- Avoid touching the eyes, nose and mouth. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
- Stay home when you’re sick.
- Avoid contact with sick people.
- Avoid non-essential travel.