There may be confusion about who is eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, and it depends on where you are vaccinated.
The COVID-19 vaccine supply is expected to increase in the near future, and the distribution sites to grow. But there can be confusion about who is eligible for the shot, and it depends on where you are vaccinated.
Virginia
For example, in Virginia, different frontline groups, essential workers are eligible for vaccination, depending on where shots are fired. As in Maryland, jurisdictions in Virginia independently decide which groups are eligible for vaccination and when.
The Department of Health in Virginia has approved vaccinations for priority groups through Phase 1b.
There are 11 categories of essential workers in the first phase of Virginia’s Phase 1b, which also includes people 65 and older, people 16 to 64 years old with high-risk medical conditions or disabilities, who have their risk for serious COVID-19 diseases stage and people work or live in correctional facilities, homeless shelters and migrant workers.
The list of medical conditions that are considered high risk is regularly updated as new data becomes available and can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Judgment asks about conditions that are noted that your healthcare provider may “have an increased risk” of serious illness caused by the virus.
In Fairfax County, three of the 11 front lines, essential workers’ groups are now eligible for vaccines: first responders, child care and school staff and corrections and workers without homeless shelter. The province expects to be eligible for the rest of the categories in phase 1b in the “unspecified” future, adding that it could take months to get through phase 1b.
Alexandria is vaccinating everyone on the VDH’s list of essential workers, including postmen and workers in grocery stores, along with people in Phase 1a (health workers), people 65 and older, and people aged 16 to 64 underlying medical conditions.
The Central Virginia Health District in Lynchburg held a closed POD (distribution point) for manufacturing workers on Saturday, which administered more than 1,700 doses throughout the day, VDH spokesman Logan Anderson said.
“As the vaccine supply increases, VDH will expand to additional groups of essential workers in the front line, in the order indicated on the fact sheet. “Food and agriculture (including veterinarians), followed by manufacturing, are the priority,” Anderson said.
You can pre-register at the nationwide website (though Fairfax County does not participate), or call 855-VAX-IN-VA.
Maryland
According to the Department of Health, all categories up to and including Phase 1c in Maryland are eligible, but vaccine supplies are limited.
Individual provinces, and even providers of state contracts within provinces, make independent decisions about allowing different priority groups to sign up for vaccine appointments.
The Montgomery County Department of Health, for example, only plans appointments through Priority Group Phase 1c, Tier 1: It opens the vaccine to people aged 65 to 74 years.
Anyone with questions about eligibility can call Maryland’s Helpline at 855-MD-GoVAX.
DC
In DC, the city is planning vaccinations for humans through what it has indicated as the first level of phase 1c, which includes 16- and 17-year-olds with qualifying medical conditions such as asthma and obesity. The full list of qualifying medical conditions, as mentioned above, is on the CDC website.
DC on Wednesday launches a pre-registration system for vaccines.
States and localities were offered as a guideline for choosing who should be offered the vaccine in phases 1b and 1c, from the disease control and prevention centers.
More Coronavirus News
Looking for more information? DC, Maryland and Virginia publish more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | DC
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