WOODBRIDGE, VA — Residents and staff members at the Tribute at The Glen assisted living facility in Woodbridge received their first shots of the coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday as Phase 1b of the distribution process continues across Virginia.
The vaccination clinic was the first at the facility which has partnered with Walgreens to administer the doses of the Pfizer vaccine. There were 135 doses of the vaccine administered to residents and employees at the facility on Tuesday and a second clinic will be held there in mid-February, officials said.
“We are grateful and excited to have this first dose of the vaccine for our residents and team members,” said Martin Brown, executive director at Tribute at The Glen. “We look forward to the day when the pandemic is behind us and this first step brings joy to our residents and team members.”
Officials from the Rappahannock Area Health District asked local residents to be patient last week as officials are seeing nearly five times the number of requests for vaccination appointments as there are doses available. Officials said last week that they have received more than 20,000 requests for appointments and have received only 4,350 doses of the vaccines locally. Local health officials said they do not know how quickly they will receive more. County officials anticipate needing until the end of March to accommodate everyone who is on the Phase 1a and 1b priority lists around the county.
As of Tuesday, 497,581 Virginia residents have received at least one dose of the vaccines while 71,459 residents have been fully vaccinated, according to state health officials.