ROANOKE, Va – COVID-19 vaccination will open to the general population in the Roanoke Valley next week.
The Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts have been working with Carilion Clinic to vaccinate thousands of people a day and moved through Phase 1c in about a week. The region will move into Phase 2 on Sunday.
“I think we all have to recognize that we have to do as much as we can in this battle when the pandemic and the vaccine is an important tool,” Senior Director Retail Pharmacies Carilion Chad Alvarez said.
State Vaccine coordinator Dr. Danny Avula says as health districts like Roanoke’s move into Phase 2, vaccine distribution is increasing elsewhere to help reach herd immunity.
“So that means, open eligibility does not mean open paws people won’t be showing up for walking paths but it does mean that they will be able to openly schedule into appointments,” Avula said.
To date, more than 130,000 doses have been administered in the health district.
As that number increases health officials are thankful to be reaching an important milestone in the fight against COVID-19.
“It’s just heartening for us to know that our work is going to pay off, and so we want to make sure that the most many doses that we can get are utilized, and that we use those to maximize them to the best of our ability,” Alverez said.
All people interested in receiving vaccine in Virginia are encouraged to pre-register at vaccinate.virginia.gov or by calling 1-877-VAX-IN-VA. All citizens are strongly urged to pre-register even if they are not currently eligible to receive vaccine now. With the expansion of doses coming in to the area, we may more quickly have supplies available to expand to additional populations. After pre-registering through the state site, individuals will be contacted when it is their turn to receive vaccine.