Virginia Beach opens up phase 1c vaccine appointments, could move to general public shortly after

VIRGINIA BEACH (WAVY) -- Virginia Beach is starting to send out vaccine appointment invitations for those in phase 1c of Virginia's vaccination plan.

The health department says only about 6,000 people are registered for 1c, which consists of more essential workers, meaning it could move to phase 2 (vaccinations for the general public) very soon. Those in 1c will receive an invitation for their appointment through the health department.

Gov. Northam's office said health departments can move to phase 2 when everyone in 1c is offered an appointment. That could be as early as April 4 in some districts. All Virginians ages 16 and older will be eligible for the vaccine by April 18.

These job fields qualify for 1c:

People who work in the following broad job fields qualify for phase 1c:

• Energy:  Electric industry, petroleum industry (including gas station workers), natural gas industry, and renewable energy
• Water, wastewater, and waste removal:  Water and utility, recycling removal, plumbers
• Housing and construction:  Hotel (traveler accommodations), HVAC technicians, hardware stores and similar retail stores, housing construction, house painters, electricians, housing and real estate services
• Food Service:  Restaurant (servers and back of house)
• Transportation and Logistics:  Shipyard, maritime, welcome center, road construction industry, air traffic controllers and TSA, airline pilots, flight crews, airline ground crews, airport personnel, car retail and repair
• Institutions of Higher Education:  Faculty and staff
• Finance:  Insurance carriers and related activities, accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services
• Information Technology and Communication:  Internet/cell phone technicians, workers responsible for infrastructure construction or restoration, data center operators
• Legal Services:  Workers supporting operations of the judicial system, including lawyers and others providing legal assistance. (Note: judges and judicial workers are included in the “Continuity of Government” group in Phase 1b.)
• Public Safety: Engineers, emergency communication centers
• Hair Stylists:  Barbers, stylists, hairdressers

The health department encourages anyone 16 years old and older who lives or works in Virginia Beach to pre-register for the vaccine at Vaccinate.Virginia.gov or call 877-VAX-IN-VA (877-829-4682). So far, 109,141 people have received at least the one dose in Virginia Beach and 59,277 people in Virginia Beach have been fully vaccinated.

“People who successfully pre-registered for phases 1a and 1b have been sent invitations to schedule an appointment, so email us at VaccinateVB@vdh.virginia.gov if you are still waiting,” said Bob Engle, emergency coordinator for the Virginia Beach Department of Public Health. “We have approximately 6,000 people registered for phase 1c, so we expect to quickly transition to phase 2. We’re encouraging everyone to go ahead and pre-register.”

The health department says anyone who received an invitation to schedule an appointment in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS) and has had difficulty finding an available timeslot should select 23451 as the zip code and “limited clinic” as the clinic type. 

For more information, visit WAVY's vaccination page.

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