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.