18 Virginia hospitals get COVID-19 doses Shawna De La Rosa | Dec 16, 2020
Share this:
Eighteen hospitals have received coronavirus vaccine shipments so far, according the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association. The vaccines have been placed in storage and redistributed to other facilities, as was planned. Scheduling is now under way to inoculate the hospitals’ staff, a process which should be complete in 45 to 60 days.
The state has prioritized health care professionals who work with COVID-19 patients as the first to get the vaccine. Essential workers including firefighters and police officers are next on the list, followed by adults in high-risk populations.
The vaccines must be thawed before administration and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine must also be diluted. Though the vaccine is strongly recommended for health care professionals, it is voluntary for the staff.
Editorial: Vaccine deployment is a shot of hope in COVID-19 fight richmond.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from richmond.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Virginia sees nearly 4K new COVID-19 cases, 166 more hospitalizations; Chesapeake reports highest local case increase with 171 new cases
News 3
and last updated 2020-12-16 10:27:31-05
The Virginia Department of Health released their daily updated numbers involving COVID-19 cases within the state.
According to their website, there are now 292,240 total cases, 251,894 of which are confirmed and 40,346 are probable. There are 4,508 total COVID-19 related deaths, with 4,090 being confirmed and 418 being probable. The case numbers are up by 3,931, and deaths are up by 38 since Tuesday.
A total of 3,780,026 COVID-19 PCR tests have now been given in Virginia.
The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association also updated their numbers. As of Wednesday, there are 1,990 people currently being hospitalized, confirmed with COVID-19. There are 359 people receiving inpatient hospital care whose test results are still pending. Combined, there are a total of 2,349 being hospitalized for coronavi