PETERSBURG, VA. (WRIC) – Crater District health officials are responding to data showing that people in several of the eight locations are vaccinated more slowly than any other region in the state.
According to the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP), Prince George and Hopewell are the last two places on a list that looks at how many Virginians have been vaccinated per 100,000. In front of them is the city of Manassas Park and then Dinwiddie, another crater site. Not far above them are Craters Petersburg and the city of Emporia. Highest on the list is Northampton County.
8News urges answers on why Crater is vaccinating fewer people and what those responsible are doing about it.
On Tuesday, the district’s acting chief operating officer, Jay Baxton, and director, Dr. Alton Hart, admits that some of their cities and counties lag behind the rest of the state.
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“Those four are kind of floating down there and we can see that,” said Baxton.
Dr. Hart said that being a large geographic area with a lack of resources like human resources plays a big role.
“As you can imagine in terms of resources, trying to roll this process out to eight locations can be challenging,” he said.
Dr. Hart said “it is possible,” but the vaccine hesitation is unlikely to have anything to do with ranking, considering vaccine deadlines are full.
Many of the communities in the Crater District are predominantly black or older, which doctors say will make them more likely to die from the virus if they get it. Dr. Hart said his team takes such factors into account.
“We recognize that our efforts need to be really strategic in the areas with high COVID-19 rates,” he said.
Over the past few weeks, thousands have been vaccinated at events at the VSU.
The largest mass vaccination center in the country will open in the university’s multipurpose center on Wednesday.
Workers spent Tuesday setting up and training. Governor Ralph Northam’s office said the state selected the state of Virginia for the Community Vaccination Center (CVC) because it is in a vulnerable community that needs “an extra boost” to get vaccines. The center is funded by FEMA.
Appointments there will remove people from current waiting lists. From Monday through Saturday, 150 people contracted by a vendor will run this center, which is staffed by the Virginia National Guard, local medical corps, and volunteers.
At least three health districts are opening vaccines through Phase 1c this week
Officials tell us the CVC will start managing 3,000 a day, but has the capacity to eventually increase that to 6,000 a day.
They will vaccinate people in Phase 1b in both the Chesterfield and Crater health districts, of which Dr. Hart and Baxter said they will change the game.
“We have no doubt our numbers will go up,” said Baxter.
Dr. Hart and Baxter now said they are constantly rethinking other strategies. They recently merged some venues for mass Vax events, much like Richmond and Henrico did from the start.
“We can get one. greater volume for every event we host, ”said Baxter. They added that they are also increasing the number of partnerships with pharmacies, health centers and churches.
“We look forward to these partnerships growing even further,” said Dr. Hard.
The vaccine supply has not met the demand in many communities. However, officials said an ever-increasing supply of vaccines is also lifting their spirits.
Dr. Hart reminds people that they are still waiting for a vaccine to make sure their information is up to date on the VDH pre-registration form. They said this definitely plays a role in getting the vaccine.