A coronavirus vaccination clinic that has been providing shots to Virginia Beach residents for months will give its last shots Wednesday, following other large sites in the region that have recently shut down.
The clinic at the Virginia Beach Convention Center has provided thousands of vaccines over the course of its operations — many to walk-ins — but demand has been tapering off for the past couple of months.
Lauren Opett, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, said the contract with the vendor running the clinic was for a predetermined number of days. Now that the term has ended, the state is expecting vaccinations to transition from large events to smaller or mobile clinics.
First and second doses of Pfizer and Moderna, as well as single doses of Johnson & Johnson, will be available at the clinic from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The convention center on 19th Street was one of the first mass vaccination sites in the state during the pandemic, giving shots to community health care workers as early as January. Initially, it was managed by the local health department and the city, with Virginia Beach employees, such as EMTs and firefighters, staffing it.
In late April, the state emergency management department and its contractor, Ashbritt, took over, expanding operations to six days a week but requiring appointments. Hannah Salem, a representative of Ashbritt, said 21,176 shots have been given since they began managing it April 26.
As of this week, there are 180,000 fully vaccinated people living in the city, accounting for 40% of the population.
Today, Virginia Beach is averaging four new coronavirus cases per day. At its peak in early January, Virginia Beach was reporting about 333 new cases per day.
Going forward, any COVID-19 vaccination clinics in the area will be run by local health agencies, Opett said.
For more information on where to find vaccines, visit vaccinate.virginia.gov or www.vaccines.gov. For phone assistance, call 1-877-VAX-IN-VA.
Elisha Sauers, 757-839-4754, elisha.sauers@pilotonline.com
