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Citing a “severely reduced” dose allocation, Inova says she has suspended administration of these first injections “for the foreseeable future”.
Northern Virginians who were hoping to receive their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine soon at an Inova hospital or clinic will have to wait longer.
In a statement released on Monday, Inova announced that it had suspended administration of these initial doses from 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, “significantly reduced” the allocation of vaccines to Inova.
“When we receive more inventory, we will prioritize patients who had a scheduled appointment first, and then focus on opening new appointments to eligible groups,” the statement said. Those who received the first dose and need to take a second will also be given priority.
But all this will take time: at the moment, the Commonwealth receives only 105,000 doses per week from the federal government.
And Fairfax County Council Chairman Jeff McKay explained in his own statement Monday that it’s not just a national shortage that is causing the local crisis. This is also due to the fact that Virginia changed the distribution to “per capita, as opposed to amounts [counties and hospitals] ordered. “
The county, McKay said, will work to help Inova honor her commitments to people who already had dates.
“We will also continue to work on our registration queue and offer appointments in the order in which people registered,” he said.
Virginia is currently in Phase 1B of its COVID-19 vaccine deployment. This group includes K-12 educators. And after learning that employees at Fairfax County public schools would have to wait longer to receive a photo of Inova, a teachers’ union called on the district to adjust its plans to bring students back to classrooms.
“We are urging Fairfax County Public Schools to change the back-to-school schedule given current health settings and this unfortunate change in the availability of vaccines for school staff,” said Tina Williams, President of the School. Fairfax County Teachers’ Federation.
More news on the coronavirus
Looking for more information? DC, Maryland and Virginia each publish more data every day. Visit their official websites here: Virginia | Maryland | DC
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