ROANOKE, Va. – As COVID-19 cases surge in Southwest Virginia, health experts said the most challenging period of the pandemic is about to begin.
The health department is blaming a lot of the surge on gatherings over Thanksgiving.
As the holiday season continues, the numbers are only expected to get worse.
Virginia is preparing for a vaccine soon, but there are still more questions than answers.
[Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam lays out state’s three-phased coronavirus vaccine distribution plan]
“I don’t have a crystal ball with respect to when we’re going to get the vaccine,” explained Dr. Cynthia Morrow, director of the Roanoke City and Alleghany health districts.
Morrow said vaccines are on the way.
“Starting next week, there will be weekly shipments of vaccine and those numbers are expected to increase relatively quickly over the next few weeks,” said Morrow.
All that’s being released about distribution plans so far is that health care workers and those in long-term care facilities are at the top of the list.
[Where are Virginia’s coronavirus cases? The health department’s interactive map]
Morrow said local health departments are preparing for mass vaccination clinics in January and February.
While it’s a possible light at the end of the tunnel it doesn’t come without warning.
“Whenever there’s a crisis, emergency or natural disaster, while most of us work together to try to get through it, there are always some out there who use it as a way to rip other people off,” said Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring.
Herring is urging Virginians to watch out for vaccine scams.
“When the vaccine is approved, it will be distributed only according to very strict protocols and administered only by approved medical personnel and professionals so no one should buy any kind of COVID-19 treatment or vaccine over the Internet,” Herring said.
Experts urge we are in a season of caution as we anxiously await the next step in an unpredictable pandemic.
“If people can just hunker down for the next few weeks and help us get through what is a really challenging, probably the most challenging period, of this pandemic, we will all be better off,” Morrow said.
VDH is also changing the way it handles contact tracing.
With so many cases and so few resources, they’re now having to prioritize who they contact. Because of that, they’re asking the community to step up to keep each other informed.