Henrico enters Phase 2 of vaccination process

Henrico County has moved into Phase 2 of the COVID-19 vaccination process, meaning that all residents 16 and older are now eligible to be vaccinated. People who pre-registered will begin receiving calls and emails as soon as today for appointments next week, according to health officials.

In Henrico and Richmond, about 40,000 people were pre-registered in Phase 2 as of Friday, according to Richmond and Henrico Health Districts Nurse Manager Amy Popovich, who said that the RHHD was contacting about 7,000 of them today to offer vaccination appointments next week.

Additional scheduling outreach will be conducted during the coming weeks until everyone who has pre-registered has been contacted for an appointment.

“This is a turning point in our vaccine distribution,” said Popovich. “Everyone ages 16 and over is now eligible; people no longer have to wonder if they qualify.”

In addition to Henrico and Richmond, the Chesterfield and Chickahominy health districts also are entering Phase 2 Friday.

Officials are urging anyone who wants a vaccine but who has not yet pre-registered to do so by visiting http://vaccinate.virginia.gov. They're also encouraging people to visit https://vaccinefinder.org to search for vaccination sites by ZIP code. Currently, the site shows a number of partner pharmacies, but in the coming weeks, more medical sites and others will be added, according to state vaccine coordinator Danny Avula.

The RHHD is expecting to receive between 12,000 and 13,000 total first doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines during the week of April 12, Popovich said, but it's unclear whether it will receive any Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses. The state and its partner pharmacies received a total of about 274,000 Johnson & Johnson doses this week, but will receive only about 28,000 total next week, Avula said – a massive reduction that will impact vaccination plans statewide.

But, he said, anyone in Virginia who's 16 or older and who wants to be vaccinated still should be able to receive at least a first dose by the end of May.

In Richmond and Henrico, only about 3,000 people who were pre-registered in Phases 1A, 1B and 1C had not yet been contacted and offered vaccination appointments, Popovich said.

Beginning next week, the RHHD will divide available first doses of vaccine thusly:

• 35% for Phase 2; • 35% for Phase 1C; • 15% total for Phases 1A and 1B; • 15% for seniors 65 and older.

People who are eligible in any of those groups still may pre-register and will be prioritized accordingly, and that's something that health officials expect to happen, at least to an extent.

“There are some people who were a little bit hesitant at first [about getting the vaccine]," said Thomas Franck, the Chickahominy Health District director. "Now that their friends and neighbors are doing so well [after being vaccinated], they want the vaccine.”

– Citizen Editor Tom Lappas contributed to this article