Board of Supervisors - Chairman

To the Fairfax County Community,

I want to start with a few updates regarding vaccine operations. As you may be aware, CVS will begin offering vaccinations to eligible populations through a new federal program beginning Friday. To start there will only be one location in Fairfax County. Appointments are limited and for now their scheduled slots are already filled. This program was not created in partnership with our Health Department and thus will use its own scheduling system that will not select people from Fairfax County’s existing waitlist. 

If you have already registered to get a vaccine appointment from Fairfax County and are able to get one at CVS or from another provider first, please email ffxcovid@fairfaxcounty.gov and let us know so you can be removed from the County’s waitlist. You can read more about the program here.

In addition, some registration and dashboard updates that are upcoming:

• A public-facing online vaccine and registration data dashboard. The information will likely include the registration date that we are now scheduling appointments for, the number of people remaining on our waitlist, the number of appointments we have offered, how many doses Fairfax County receives from VDH each week, how many doses are distributed each week, and the total number of doses administered by the Health Department.
• An online vaccine registration confirmation form.
• An online self-cancelation system for residents who want to be removed from our waitlist.
• Weekly emails that will be sent every Sunday to people on our waitlist to remind them that they are still registered.
• Data cleanup on our waitlist that includes removing approximately 25,000 names from our queue due to duplicate registrations.

These updates were announced at yesterday's Board of Supervisors meeting and will be in place in the next two weeks, with the confirmation system up and running by Friday.

See below for other highlights from our meeting. The agenda is available for your review here.

For COVID-19 resources mentioned in past newsletters, visit my website. If you have a friend who would like to sign up for this newsletter, they can do so here.

To the Fairfax County Community,

Today, the Fairfax County Health Department (FCHD) updated the Board on the state of our County's vaccination process. I have shared key information below. During the meeting, I asked that a vaccine dashboard (similar to our existing testing dashboard) be stood up so residents can track FCHD's progress and so residents can get a clearer picture of where they are in the queue, if they have registered to be vaccinated. I will continue to update you as I know more.

I also wanted to take the opportunity to thank our Health Department staff and everyone who is helping us administer the thousands of doses we have been able to administer. Vaccine distribution is no small feat. It is because of the dedication of these individuals that we are able to get vaccines in arms as quickly as possible.

See below for the full February 2 edition of my newsletter. For COVID-19 resources mentioned in past newsletters, visit my website. If you have a friend who would like to sign up for this newsletter, they can do so here.

To the Fairfax County Community,

Yesterday, we held the first full Board meeting of 2021. Because of the sustained increase in COVID-19 cases, we held the meeting virtually and will continue to do so until it is safe to return in-person.

I wanted to use this space to highlight an announcement we made yesterday to extend the deadline of real estate and vehicle tax relief. The County’s tax relief program provides additional aid to seniors above the age of 65 and those who are permanently and totally disabled. Qualified taxpayers may also be eligible for tax relief for renters.

Applicants must file between January 1, 2021 and May 3, 2021. Some exceptions may be available if applications are filed late due to a hardship which prevented the application from being filed on time.

This decision was made in an effort to ease the economic burdens caused by COVID-19 for a group of our community that often has fixed incomes. It was a simple action that I'm glad we were able to accommodate.

The meeting agenda is available for your review here.

See below for the full January 27 edition of my newsletter. For COVID-19 resources mentioned in past newsletters, visit my website. If you have a friend who would like to sign up for this newsletter, they can do so here.

Finally, if you missed Monday's newsletter about Inova and our vaccine supply, you can read it here.

Read more

To the Fairfax County Community,

The Virginia Department of Health has announced that they will only receive 105,000 vaccine doses per week from the federal government. For context, last week the Fairfax County Health Department alone received over 22,000 doses from VDH for the 168,000 residents eligible for a vaccine. This is in part due to two changes at the federal and state levels, not the County level. At the federal level, there is a nationwide shortage of COVID-19 vaccine. At the state level, unfortunately they have decided to change distribution to per capita, as opposed to the amounts County's and hospital's have ordered. This means, the County will be receiving even less vaccine than we were previously and why, starting tomorrow, Inova will be cancelling all further first dose vaccine appointments.

As always we are ready, willing, and able to vaccinate all of our residents. The above decisions made at the state and federal levels, however will force Fairfax County and Inova to roll back our vaccine operations.

We will work with Inova to help them honor commitments made to individuals who had already been given appointments with them but have since been cancelled. We will also continue to work through our registration queue and offer appointments in the order in which people have registered. Taking a first come first serve approach for appointments to the over 50,000 people aged 75 and up who were registered and in the queue prior to the expansion of 1b, will still result in the prioritization of the elderly, while honoring our commitment to ensuring that schools are ready for opening. We continue to vaccinate public safety personnel and people living in correctional facilities and homeless shelters through special vaccination clinics.

It is profoundly unfortunate that despite all of our efforts at the local level that we must again ask for patience, which is frustrating for all of us. I hate to have to share this news, but I also want to be transparent about the situation we are in.

I will continue to, as we have done from the beginning, push for as much vaccine as we can get in Fairfax County. Sadly we could vaccinate tens of thousands more people than we are, if we have the vaccine coming in. This is especially sad because the Board of Supervisors has invested every resource we have into this effort, as those who have already been able to be vaccinated can attest. We have a very efficient, well-run program that now has to be slowed down.

Please know that I will continue to share information here and on my social media pages as I know it. Vaccinating our residents is our priority.

The full newsletter can be found here.

To the Fairfax County Community,

We are leading the state in vaccinations and we are proud to be in Phase 1b which includes health care workers, adults over 65, and people ages 16-64 who are at a high risk for COVID-19. This population alone comprises over 168,000 Fairfax County residents. This number however does not even include those getting vaccinated in our partnership with Inova to vaccinate teachers and emergency responders. As of Tuesday night, we had administered 25,989 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and as of yesterday, have over 115,000 people on our waitlist. (You too can register here.)

In addition, I am happy to report that we have also begun outreach to folks for their second vaccine dose. We have sent 8,000 emails and as of yesterday, have filled 60% of our available appointments.

As I mentioned last week, there is significant demand for the COVID-19 vaccine which is great to hear. We have invested significant resources into the vaccination process and we are ready to administer it to residents quickly and effectively. The problem however remains that we do not receive sufficient doses from the state. Demand is far outpacing supply.

That said, I have sent a letter to Governor Northam reminding him of such. While there is a limit to vaccine availability nationwide, our capacity to deliver vaccine to our residents shouldn't be so limited by our allocation from the state.

Nonetheless, we will vaccinate everyone who wants to be vaccinated. This our priority. In the meantime, please continue to wear a mask, wash your hands, stay home as much as possible, and get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms.

See below for the full January 21 edition of my newsletter. For COVID-19 resources mentioned in past newsletters, visit my website. If you have a friend who would like to sign up for this newsletter, they can do so here.

To the Fairfax County Community,

As you may have heard, Governor Northam announced today that Virginia is preparing to expand vaccination eligibility to 65+. The Health Department will begin registering individuals in these new groups, next Monday, January 18. It will take some time to get through this group however. Vaccine supply is limited and our ability to vaccinate is dependent on the amount of supply we are provided from the state.

Let me break down some numbers for you:

• Currently Virginia in its entirety receives about 110,000 doses of vaccine a week.
• 168,000 residents in the Fairfax Health District are considered to be within phase 1B.
• As of this morning at 5am, the Fairfax County Health Department had vaccinated 15,980 people since Christmas. This does not include vaccinations administered by Inova or at long-term care facilities.
• As of late Wednesday (January 13), 31,000 residents had scheduled an appointment with our Health Department since Monday.

In addition, we are pleased to be working with Inova Health System to vaccinate frontline essential workers and 40,000 public and private school staff and teachers. More on this below.

We are leading the Commonwealth in vaccinations and are processing folks as quickly as we can. The Board has directed staff to put all necessary resources into vaccinating the public, understanding that the availability of the vaccine is driven entirely by the state and federal governments. I say this because, we need your patience.

I want to assure you that everyone who wants to be vaccinated will be.

See below for the full January 14 edition of my newsletter. For COVID-19 resources mentioned in past newsletters, visit my website. If you have a friend who would like to sign up for this newsletter, they can do so here.

To the Fairfax County Community,

On Friday, the Governor allowed Fairfax County and ten other health districts to begin Phase 1b vaccinations today. This was great news because our Health Department has worked hard to vaccinate more people in our health district than any other locality in Virginia. That said, as you can imagine with over 150,000 people newly eligible, our phone lines were extraordinarily busy receiving over 10,000 calls in the first ten minutes of the lines opening.

I understand why you may be anxious to call and frustrated. An online registration portal with scheduling will be available soon and in the meantime the Health Department has a pre-screening questionnaire here. After confirming your eligibility, your contact information is submitted to the Health Department for a follow up call or email. As of 4:50 pm, 7,325 people had already completed the online form and 853 residents scheduled an appointment through our call center for a total of 8,178 inquiries today.

I understand that everyone is eager to get vaccinated and that's great. Regardless of where we are in registering residents, vaccine supply is limited and we need your patience.

See below for the full January 11 edition of my newsletter. For COVID-19 resources mentioned in past newsletters, visit my website. If you have a friend who would like to sign up for this newsletter, they can do so here.

To the Fairfax County Community,

What we saw yesterday at the US Capitol, will forever be a dark day in American history. It was an act of violence, terror, and frankly, an attempted coup.

I turned on the news with my 8-year-old in the room, unsure of what to tell him. At his age, I wasn't ready for him to see the same cynicism that many see in our government. Like many, I'm angry, sad, and feel as though I am unable to capture the right words and emotions.

If you missed my statement last night, we deployed members of our police department and opened our emergency operations center to Virginia State Police. I was relieved to hear that they were safe and I am grateful for their work. We will continue to be in contact with my colleagues across the region in the coming weeks.

I assure you, we will not let fear and violence stand in the way of a peaceful transition of power in a democratically sound election. As uncertain as things feel right now, I know we will move past this and hopefully learn from this. And in Fairfax County, we will to continue to embrace our values and welcome our diversity and continue to build trust in our community. The long road forged by 2020 might have gotten a little longer, but no matter what, we will get through this because that is who we are.

See below for the full January 7 edition of my newsletter. For COVID-19 resources mentioned in past newsletters, visit my website. If you have a friend who would like to sign up for this newsletter, they can do so here.

To the Fairfax County Community,

I wanted to first share some good news. As you probably know, a second COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna has been approved and is being distributed. Although this was an expected development, it is nonetheless a relief to see the vaccination process move forward.

I'll lay out some vaccine developments below, but wanted to highlight that the Virginia Department of Health informed my regional colleagues and me that they expect vaccinations in long-term care facilities to begin next week. The first doses should be distributed to that population within three to four weeks. This will take so much stress away from so many families to learn that their loved ones are protected from the virus.

To all who celebrate, I also want to wish you a Merry Christmas. Plans have changed for many and I still encourage you to do so safely by avoiding travel, gatherings with those outside of your household, and continuing to practice COVID-19 mitigation guidelines. There are a number of ways to celebrate the holiday safely around the County - take a look at Visit Fairfax's holiday guide, dining ideas, and if you have left shopping to the last minute a local gift guide. Regardless of how or what you celebrate, everyone can use the much needed time off to relax and reflect.

Finally, on January 1, I am taking the Chairman's New Year Reception virtual. Produced with ArtsFairfax and Fairfax County's Channel 16, we are highlighting the performances of some of the wonderful arts the County has to offer.

See below for the full December 23 edition of my newsletter. For COVID-19 resources mentioned in past newsletters, visit my website. If you have a friend who would like to sign up for this newsletter, they can do so here.