Local COVID-19 vaccination effort update: More than 5K vaccinations locally

Augusta Health administered 473 COVID-19 vaccinations on Wednesday, pushing the total vaccinated at the regional hospital to 5,366, according to a report issued today.

The total number of vaccinations in the Augusta County, Staunton, Waynesboro region per today’s update from the Virginia Department of Health is 5,906.

This works out to 4,846 vaccinations per 100,000 residents.

Statewide, VDH reports 399,317 vaccinations as of today’s update – a rate of 4,679 vaccinations per 100,000.

The state and local efforts continue to trail behind the situation nationally.

The latest numbers from the CDC are updated as of Wednesday. The CDC reports 16.5 million vaccinations nationwide, a rate of 4,994 per 100,000.

The national numbers have been coming in at roughly 900,000 new vaccinations per day in recent days. Assuming that for today, the U.S. would be at 5,258 vaccinations per 100,000 residents today, give or take, meaning Virginia would be lagging behind by roughly 11 percent from the national average.

Local situation update

The Central Shenandoah Health District is leading the local effort being run through Augusta Health.

Because the first priority is to vaccinate the community members with the highest risk for COVID complications first, this week’s appointments are only confirmed for those aged 75 and over.

As supply increases, CSHD and Augusta Health will expand efforts to others within the community – specifically, Augusta Health will add clinics that include community members aged 65 and over when supply is available.

If you are aged 65 and up, and want to sign up for the COVID-19 vaccine, visit http://bit.ly/cshdinfo .

Once, there, you should complete the Request for Individual Vaccination Survey.

Note that by completing this survey, your name will be added to a queue to receive notification when a COVID-19 vaccine is available to you and provide you with information on how to register.

Completing the survey does not provide an appointment. It puts your name in the queue to be contacted when vaccine is available. As vaccine becomes available, schedulers will access this information to make appointments.

Essential workers and those who are aged 16-64 with certain conditions or disabilities will also find links to forms for their queues.