RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) — As more people struggle to get a COVID-19 vaccine, 10 On Your Side is learning more about the rollout process.
Dr. Danny Avula is leading the charge in getting Virginians vaccinated. He says the biggest issue when it comes to vaccine distribution is supply, but he is hopeful that it will improve soon.
The goal Gov. Ralph Northam laid out for the state last month was 50,000 shots in arms every day. As of Thursday, the average amount of vaccines distributed is just under 40,000 vaccines per day.
However, Dr. Avula says the state administered roughly 50,000 vaccines during each of the last four days of January. He says the reason 50,000 isn’t the average comes down to supply.
“Right now, we’re getting 120,000 new doses per week coming into the state, and until we get to 350,000 doses a week, we’re not going to be able to reasonably sustain the 50,000-dose-a-day pace,” said Avula.
Avula is hopeful the supply and distribution will both improve, with more doses coming from the federal government, and pharmacies like CVS soon being able to administer doses.
However, there are still questions: who will CVS vaccinate? How will they follow state priority guidelines?
“We will need to work with CVS to determine … are they just doing 65 and over? Are they doing 65 with underlying conditions? How do we make sure that their registration process takes into account the thousands of people who have already pre-registered in each locality?” Avula said.
Keep in mind, about half of Virginia’s population is in phase 1b. So, even with more vaccines and new pharmacies involved, this is going to take some time.
“If we continue to have a weekly distribution that’s around 120,000 doses, it’s going to be a while,” Avula said. “I would say two to three months before we work through 1b.”
Avula also says even after people receive both doses, they are asking people to still mask up as health officials gather more data.
“Our current guidance is that once you’ve been vaccinated, please continue to wear a mask, please continue to socially distance,” he said.