The plan has three main sections: vaccination, expanded health care and testing.

There are more details coming to light after a Salem teenager claims she got six doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine last week.

Local health leaders say restarting the Johnson and Johnson vaccine again could help with vaccine hesitancy

Local health leaders are expanding their reach with COVID-19 vaccinations.

Thursday the New River Health District teamed up with the university to host a mass vaccinate site at Lane Stadium.

COVID-19 vaccination will open to the general population in the Roanoke Valley next week.

ROANOKE, Va – If the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is approved, it could be in the Roanoke Valley as early as next week. The vaccine is on the verge of getting emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Studies show the single-shot vaccine would be 66% effective against moderate and severe cases of COVID-19. Roanoke City and Alleghany Health District Director Dr. Cynthia Morrow says the department will likely administer the shot on different days during its clinics. The department will likely get a small amount at first and then increased doses as time goes on similar to Moderna and Pfizer.

MARTINSVILLE, Va – The City of Martinsville is working to address an issue in COVID-19 vaccine data. Right now, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is only reporting a small fraction of how many people have been vaccinated in the city. According to the VDH, only 140 people in Martinsville have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. “The numbers are skewed and we know the numbers are skewed is skewed and we know that. AdThe confusion could be coming from the large role SOVAH Health Martinsville is playing in the vaccination process.

While people across the country struggle to register for a vaccine dose at those large retailers, locally-owned Blacksburg Pharmacy has been vaccinating at least 100 people a week. The pharmacy gets a mix of its own orders of vaccine but also takes any doses the New River Health District may not be able to distribute. The pharmacy gets a mix of its own orders of vaccine but also takes any doses the New River Health District may not be able to distribute. “That should allow that Health District to prioritize patients better, because if one store isn’t getting as much vaccine as another as you might leave a patient behind who’s more eligible,” Puckett said. Puckett said the pharmacy expects to start getting more doses next week.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va – The New River Health District says it is having a hard time keeping up with the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine. The district has done over 12,000 vaccinations since it started receiving its first doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine last month. New River Health District Director Dr. Noelle Bissell says the health district was originally getting about 5,000 doses a week but now it’s only getting 2,000 doses a week. [Virginia planning to release 40,000 coronavirus vaccines first-doses by Sunday]“We definitely have greater vaccinating capacity than we do have vaccines available so we’re waiting for that day when windows floodgates open and there’s more vaccine, because right now we have a tremendous challenge trying to deal with the uncertainty of how much vaccine we have from day to day or week to week,” Bissell said. Bissell expects the New River Health District expects to stay in Phase 1b until at least February.

ROANOKE, Va. – After months of waiting, frontline workers in our area are now being vaccinated for COVID-19. The shipment rolled into the region Tuesday and Wednesday and priority workers started rolling up their sleeves. “I think the federal express driver had never had such an exciting package on their truck,” said Alan Larson, Sovah Health, Market President and CEO Sovah Health in Danville. She says while she loves caring for the sick, this pandemic has taken a physical and emotional toll on healthcare workers. After playing defense for months, the small vaccine is a big weapon in the fight to put the pandemic behind us.