Video, Highlights From Gov. Northam’s COVID Briefing: COVID #s Going Down, Vaccination #s Going Up, New Statewide Vaccination Pre-Registration System Now Available

See below for video and highlights from yesterday’s COVID-19 briefing by Gov. Ralph Northam.

• Northam says he knows the past weekend was very difficult because of the ice storm…unfortunately, still some people who don’t have electricity.
• “Exciting updates” – COVID #s going down, vaccination #s going up. New statewide vaccination pre-registration system.
• “We’ve administered now more than 1.4 million vaccine doses; 12.4 percent of Virginians have received at least their first shot – that puts us 12th in the nation (we’re the 12th largest state so that’s exactly where we should be). We’ve used 87 percent of the shots we’ve received, which puts us seventh in the nation so we’re getting these out the door as fast as possible on average. We’re giving almost 34 000 shots per day. As you know, our goal s to be doing 50 000 shots a day. We have the infrastructure to do that when we can get the supply.”
• “This week I was glad to sign emergency legislation that will allow more medical professionals to give vaccine shots – folks like dentists, medical students and others. The bill also requires vaccinators to collect race and ethnicity data, which will help us fill an important data gap tracking. This is a critical step to ensure we’re distributing vaccine equitably and including the communities that are most vulnerable to getting the virus and also getting sicker from the virus.”
• “Now I’d like to talk about the pre-registration system. We have heard you. You asked for a unified statewide system where you can pre-register and get confirmation that it went through – and Virginia is delivering. Yesterday, we launched the website and pre-registration tool. The response has been very strong. At the peak, the new site was getting 300 registrations per minute and it averaged 150 registrations per minute. All told, 240,000 Virginians signed up since this launched and I’m one of them. That tells us that the system is working and that it’s meeting a demand. Today we’re launching this second component of this system – a dedicated call center for those folks who are more comfortable talking to a human being than going online. Together this is a one-stop shop for Virginians to pre-register for vaccination so that when your turn comes, the health department can easily reach out to schedule you for your shot.”
• “If you have already pre-registered through your local health district, you don’t need to register again. The data from local health departments is being automatically imported into the new system 1.6 million records…were migrated over the weekend. everyone who previously registered is still on the list.”
• Call center launches today; you can call 877-829-4682. Have hired 750 call center workers to staff those phone lines — 69, or about 10 percent of those, are Spanish-speaking. “This new system will be a tremendous step forward…”
• Still not receiving enough doses to meet demand, but it’s increasing. “We are in regular contact with our federal partners, both in the Biden administration and in our congressional delegation. i promise you we are not shy in asking for what we need.” Right now, we’re getting about one-third of the vaccines we need.
• “Next week, sports start moving outdoors. So starting this Monday we’ll expand the number of spectators allowed at outdoor sport events up to 250 provided everyone maintains their social distancing.”
• ” Will children be able to go to overnight summer camps? Yes they will, this summer.”
• “The basic safety needs will stay in place for the foreseeable future – wear a mask, wash your hands, maintain your social distance. This applies to people who have been vaccinated as well. We know that these measures work…we’re going to take a deliberate, cautious, step-by-step approach. We will move thoughtfully and safely over time.”
• “I am pleased to see that our school divisions are stepping up to the challenge I set for them two weeks ago. I asked our schools to move aggressively toward plans for how to have in-person learning options by March the 15th. At that time, if you remember, about a third of our school divisions lacked plans for in-person learning; that represents half a million students in Virginia. Today, that number is down to just three or four school divisions and we’re working with them on solutions.”
• Finally, a “serious winter storm is forecast for parts of our commonwealth.”
• “We want to give our teachers a raise…We want to provide all our children access to a world-class education” and that means we want our children to be back in school.”