DC Metro Area Team,

As the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) continues to administer vaccines across the commonwealth, some health districts are moving into the 1c vaccine group while others are still focused on vaccinating people in 1b. In addition, Governor Ralph Northam announced that Virginia would expand vaccine eligibility to all adults by April 18 as supply continues to improve.

While Virginia is making good progress, we want to offer more specific guidance to employees in the greater Washington, D.C., metro area which, due to population and differences in how local health districts are managed, are more nuanced.

Higher education employees – including Virginia Tech – fall into VDH’s 1c group. In addition, VDH encourages all commonwealth citizens to pre-register for the vaccine through the statewide survey. If you haven’t already, I urge you to fill out the VDH survey. Pre-registering and keeping your information up to date will help ensure that when a vaccine is available, you will receive it as quickly as possible.

Virginia Tech employees who work out of Northern Virginia locations should pay attention to guidance from VDH as well as the health districts of their worksite and their residence, as they may be different. All employees are encouraged to follow the pre-registration guidance for the health districts most relevant to them as eligibility may open at different rates. Following are some recent developments:

  • On March 30, the Fairfax Health District (Fairfax) opened vaccine registration to all of the 1b group. All other Virginia localities are participating in the VDH pre-registration system.
  • On April 1, Fairfax announced plans to open pre-registration to the 1c group in the coming week and transition to phase two by the governor's target date of April 18. Register here with Fairfax; the health district also includes the cities of Falls Church and Fairfax.
  • Eligible residents can pre-register with their health department or seek appointments at pharmacies such as CVS, Safeway, Giant, Harris Teeter or Walgreens. Please check their websites for further information.
  • A VDH mass vaccination site has opened in the Prince William Health District and is expected to increase vaccine access within that county.

Virginia Tech will continue to stay in contact with the VDH and track information from relevant health districts. Additionally, a voluntary COVID-19 vaccine reporting mechanism is being considered for university employees to better understand how many of our employees have been vaccinated.

In the meantime, it is critical to continue following good health guidelines! The CDC has issued preliminary guidelines for fully vaccinated people. These guidelines continue to state that when in public, a fully vaccinated individual should continue following public health guidelines for the safety of our community until restrictions can be further relaxed or lifted. Please stay vigilant and adhere to the university and public health guidelines.

  • Avoid Close contact situations.
  • Avoid Crowds.
  • Avoid Closed, poorly ventilated spaces.
  • Wear Masks.

Thank you for your dedication and we appreciate your patience as vaccine availability continues to increase across our state.

Sincerely,

Bryan Garey
Vice President for Human Resources


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