Posted On May 13, 2021
The COVID-19 vaccine is now available to adolescents aged 12-15 at various distribution sites throughout the Middle Peninsula and across Virginia.
Dr. Richard Williams, Medical Director of the Three Rivers Health District, said that the dose and dosage regimen are the same for everyone aged 12 and up.
Riverside Health Care System, Walmart and Walgreens, as well as clinical partners who are CDC-approved, may now administer the vaccine to children in the new age group, he said. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was approved for such use by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday, May 12. It had previously been approved for those ages 16 and older.
Earlier restrictions regarding how and when people could get into vaccination clinics have changed dramatically as the supply of COVID-19 vaccines has increasedâand demand has decreased.
Early on, appointments were such a must that most clinics had police nearby to make sure nobody showed up unannounced and demanded to be inoculated. That happened once in the Rappahannock Area Health District, forcing health officials to add security details to each event.
But appointments havenât been needed since the calendar flipped from April to May. Anyone can walk into any clinic offered by health districts throughout the stateâas well as some pharmacies and grocery storesâand roll up their sleeves for a free vaccine. Places that do require appointments usually have slots open the same or next day.
By Sherry Hamilton on May 12, 2021
Local COVID-19 case rates continued on a downward trend during the past week, with just 11 new cases recorded for Gloucester, one for Mathews, and four for Middlesex since last Wednesday.
While there were two new hospitalizations listed for Gloucester, for a total of 61 since the pandemic began, there were no new hospitalizations in Mathews or Middlesex, leaving those numbers at 22 and 24 respectively. There were no deaths from the virus in the three counties over the past week, leaving those numbers at 48 for Gloucester, 12 for Mathews, and 20 for Middlesex.
Case and hospitalization numbers across the Three Rivers Health District were slightly up from last week, with 73 new cases reported districtwide, for a total of 9,991, and seven new hospitalizations, for a total of 407. Last week, there were 69 new cases and five new hospitalizations. While two district deaths were recorded last week, there was just one death in the district this past week,