ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — Limited supply of the COVID-19 vaccine has forced the Western Tidewater Health District to cancel all first-dose appointments at two locations until further notice.
Isle of Wight County posted a notice on social media Monday afternoon about the cancellation of two clinics this week, one at the Workforce Development Center in Franklin and the Smithfield Center in Smithfield.
The state determines how many vaccine doses each locality gets, and has transitioned to a population-based distribution model.
The post continued: “The Western Tidewater Health District’s staff continues to advocate for more vaccines to distribute to its constituents and asks for the public’s patience as we navigate through this very difficult process.”
Second-dose appointments in the Western Tidewater Health District at those two locations will still be honored because “second doses of the vaccine comes from a separate allocation,” Isle of Wight wrote on Facebook.
Western Tidewater Health District Emergency Manager Will Drewery said the vaccine allocation for the district had been “tremendously decreased.”
The district is currently vaccinating groups 1a and 1b. Group 1a includes health care workers and residents and workers at long-term care facilities, while 1b includes front-line essential workers, people over the age of 75 and people over 65 with underlying medical conditions.
The Western Tidewater Health District, which encompasses Isle of Wight County, Franklin, Suffolk and Southampton County, has received 9,000 doses, according to a Virginia Department of Health vaccine dashboard.
All appointments are full for the next two weeks, Drewery said. Those who need an appointment should call after Feb. 4.
More information on scheduling an appointment for a vaccine — for this particular health district, call after Feb. 4 — can be found on the WAVY.com vaccine information page.
Those who represent a medical office that hopes to provide COVID-19 vaccine to its patients should email the district’s Nurse Manager Sarah Scouten at sarah.scouten@vdh.virginia.gov to start the process for registering to receive the vaccine.
According to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) vaccine dashboard, more than 10,700 doses have been given in the Western Tidewater Health District between the district’s four localities. However, the number of doses shipped there is still recorded at 9,000.
The VDH gave some explanations of why data could have discrepancies, although it’s unclear what happened with the Western Tidewater Health District dose information specifically.
The VDH said: “A large difference between the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses distributed and the number of doses administered is expected due to several factors. The vaccine is distributed in large quantities and should then be administered in clinics over the next 7-10 days. Additionally, healthcare providers report doses to Virginia Immunization Information System (VIIS) up to 72 hours after administration.”
Here’s the vaccine information by locality in the health district, as of Feb. 1:
- Franklin: 825 doses with 74 people fully vaccinated
- Suffolk: 6,033 doses with 809 people fully vaccinated
- Southampton: 1,111 doses with 54 people fully vaccinated
- Isle of Wight: 2,815 doses with 283 people fully vaccinated
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