Message from the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts

Jan. 26, 2021

Good morning:

Thank you for signing up on the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health District (RCAHD) website to express interest in COVID-19 vaccine opportunities for individuals aged 75 and older. We understand some have been able to schedule and secure your vaccine, which is wonderful! For those who are still inquiring about vaccine, this email will provide you with helpful information.

Vaccine Clinic for those aged 75+
Wednesday, January 27: *Registration Required*

Click this link to sign up for an appointment. Space is limited on a first-come, first-served basis. Given high demand, we expect this clinic will fill quickly. Clinic hosted in partnership with Carilion Clinic.

If this clinic is full, additional clinics will be announced as more doses arrive in the area.

Vaccine Update
As of January 26, 2021, Virginia is projected to receive approximately 110,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine each week for the next several weeks. The Central Office of the Virginia Department of Health estimates that approximately 50% of Virginia’s population is currently eligible to receive vaccine based on the recently expanded criteria for Phase 1b. Like every health district in the state, the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts (RCAHD) are tasked with the impossible challenge of having to distribute a very limited supply vaccine in very high demand by the public.

The RCAHD allocation of vaccine will be approximately 3,000 doses per week. It will take months for all who are currently eligible under Phase 1b guidelines to be able to receive vaccine. Even though Phase 1b was expanded by the Governor to include many over the age of 65 and those aged 16 and up with serious medical conditions, we share your disappointment that the vaccine supply is simply not sufficient to get to all who are eligible quickly. Vaccine is extremely limited now, but we are working to deliver vaccine to all who want to be protected by it.

While we continue to face many vaccine distribution challenges, there is much to celebrate. For the past four weeks of this 10-month pandemic, RCAHD staff have worked long hours to pull together vaccination opportunities for our community. Here's a peek at what we've been up to between January 18 and 24. RCAHD has:

Hired a COVID Immunization Nurse to help our nursing and clinical team plan vaccine clinics,
Welcomed and trained five National Guard members to help support our clinic response,
Hosted seven full vaccination clinics in Roanoke, Salem, and Covington, vaccinating over 8,000 in our community. On January 21, we partnered with school systems in our district, as well as Carilion Clinic, to vaccinate 2,000 public and private K-12 teachers and staff at a daylong clinic visited by Governor Ralph Northam. On January 22 and 23, Carilion Clinic led the joint effort to reach over 4,600 of our older citizens.
Continued to reach the most vulnerable of our frontline essential Phase 1a and 1b including healthcare workers, first responders and staff of correctional facilities, schools, and childcare centers.

Collectively, these efforts demonstrate to our community that we have the capacity to safely vaccinate large numbers of individuals when the vaccine supply increases. As we move through the first tiers of Phase 1b in the coming weeks, we will work to start reaching the rest of Phase 1b (including our 16-64 year-olds with medical vulnerabilities and additional essential frontline employees as outlined by the Governor) as soon as vaccine supply increases. For more information, please visit our website: https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/roanoke/covid-vaccine/

As RCAHD receives weekly supply of vaccine, we will continue to send information to communicate upcoming vaccination opportunities. Please note that by completing our interest survey, we will send you information about clinic opportunities, but we are not able to pre-register you or place you on a waitlist for a specific appointment. Future clinics may also occasionally be open to the wider community to ensure equitable access among all citizens.

“The demand far exceeds our current supply, but we will continue to work hard to provide as many doses to as many people as soon as possible. Thank you for your interest. We are committed to vaccinating and protecting you as soon as possible,”

--Dr. Cynthia Morrow, Health Director, Roanoke and Alleghany Health Districts

Sincerely,

Kristin Adkins,
Population Health Manager,
Roanoke City & Alleghany Health Districts

http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/roanoke/
http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/alleghany/