PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — If it goes as planned, by the end of business Tuesday afternoon, vaccinators will have administered 1,000 doses of Moderna or the Pfizer vaccine at the Portsmouth Sportsplex.
Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. by appointment only — and officials emphasize the “appointment-only” aspect of the clinic.
Virginia Congressman Bobby Scott (D-Newport News) says the state got off to a slow start vaccinating because access to the vaccine was dependent on whether a person had access to a computer and the internet,
“When they started out, the African American community was underrepresented among those getting vaccinated because vaccination was dependent on whether you had a computer, whether you had internet and whether you were online. The commonwealth has stepped forward to make sure these vaccination sites are available to people throughout the commonwealth,” he said.
Danville opened a community vaccination clinic, and 3,000 people had registered for vaccine. Many people seemed to show up at 8 a.m.
Erin Sutton, chief deputy state coordinator for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, said things did not go 100-percent smoothly in Danville, where they opened a vaccination clinic with 3,000 doses.
“There were 3,000 vaccinations scheduled for Danville, and those appointments were set, and everyone showed up at 8 a.m.,” Sutton told the group gathered at the Portsmouth Sportsplex Monday.
“So, I encourage everyone to listen. There are plenty of vaccines, we are not going to run out, if you have an appointment, please come at your appointed time.”
Dr. Lauren James is Portsmouth’s district health director.
“We have about [7,000] to 10,000 people on our registry, and that is a low estimate, and that is to assume they haven’t been able to use other sources for a vaccination. I know this will really be great,” James said.
State Sen. Louis Lucas (D-Portsmouth) also agrees that opening the mass vaccination clinic will benefit many residents.
“This initiative is wonderful. We will get more shots out to people of color. They have been disproportionately left behind, and left out from getting these vaccines,” she said.
The vaccination clinic will open Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. It is a joint venture with IEM Health and AshBritt Management and Logistics. They report they have a contract with Virginia to open 10 community vaccination centers.
“We will be here as long as we need to be here to make sure we are serving the residents of the state and we have provided these vaccinations to save lives to get us back on track as a country,” said Gerardo Castillo, who is in charge of Ashbritt-IEM’s global COVID-19 response.
Lucas says a lot is riding on this to get the minority community out and to get vaccination shots into arms.
“I am going to usher people in here so they can get the shots. I have had both of my shots, and I recommend highly for everyone to get both shots,” Lucas said.
All vaccinations are by appointment only. There are no walk-up registrations or vaccinations.
Those who have an appointment should not arrive more than 15 minutes early.
Those with appointments need to bring official photo identification.
Those who haven’t pre-registered for the COVID-19 vaccine and would like to receive it, should go to Vaccinate.Virginia.gov or call 1 (877) 829-4682.