Friends,

As we reach the end of our third week in the 2021 General Assembly, we continue to make progress in passing legislation to support our schools, environment, workers, and healthcare in the Commonwealth.

I especially wish to draw your attention to tonight’s virtual town hall which focuses on Virginia’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration plan.

COVID-19 vaccination town hall
Tonight, I am hosting a very critical town hall with special guests Dr. Danny Avula, the newly-appointed Virginia Department of Health COVID-19 Vaccination Coordinator, and Dr. Alexander Samuel, Health Director for the Chesterfield District; this health district includes Chesterfield County, Powhatan County, and Colonial Heights. We will discuss vaccine distribution and administration, both in Virginia and in the 10th Senatorial District. Our guests will share what Virginians should expect in the coming weeks and months. They will also clarify the data, logistics of distribution, and timelines for the various phases. Dr. Avula and Dr. Samuel will also be responding to questions, which you can send in advance of the town hall after you register.

The invitation to the event is below, and I hope you will join us from 6PM to 7PM tonight.

Vaccine distribution updates
We continue to receive updates for the vaccine distribution, but here is the information that my office has been able to share for constituents in the 10th Senatorial District:

For Richmond/Henrico, please complete this form to be added to the list for the Richmond/Henrico Health District.

For Chesterfield Health District, please complete this form.

The Chesterfield Health District includes Powhatan County, and the Health District provides these additional details:

The Chesterfield County Health District is quickly working to develop a portal allowing Chesterfield residents to be put on a local vaccination waitlist; the portal provided originally by the VDH is not working as intended. This portal will be available on the website early this upcoming week. As soon as the portal is operational, the county administration will provide residents with information on how to be added to the vaccine waitlist.

Residents inquiring about COVID-19 information or signing up to receive the vaccination, are asked to contact Chesterfield Health District's COVID-19 Call Center for assistance:

• Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. - 804-318-8207
• After hours call - 877-275-8343
• Email Chesterfield Health District - [email protected]

The number of residents waiting to receive the vaccine at this time far exceeds the number of doses the county is being given.

There are limited amounts of vaccines available nationwide, and supply continues to be a challenge. Because of these challenges, vaccine distribution across the Commonwealth has been significantly reduced.

The County has learned from VDH that Virginia will be receiving approximately 100K-110K vaccine doses weekly until manufacturing and supplies can increase. Health districts, including the Chesterfield Health District, which includes Powhatan, Chesterfield and the City of Colonial Heights, will receive an allocation based on population size. Therefore, the entire allocation for this health district will be 4,625 doses a week. These doses are to be administered according to the vaccine prioritization guidelines.

The Chesterfield Health District continues to focus on vaccinating the 1a and 1b eligible individuals as outlined on the Chesterfield Health District webpage, here.

As always, if you need assistance, or if you want to schedule a Zoom or phone call with our team, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office. Email is the best way to contact us. We can be reached at [email protected].

— Ghazala Hashmi