A Sentara Healthcare worker receives one of the first COVID-19 vaccines available in the state. Photo courtesy Sentara
Virginia expects to receive 370,650 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna by the end of the year instead of 480,000 as previously announced, the Virginia Department of Health said Friday.
Operation Warp Speed, the federal response for vaccinating millions of Americans, informed VDH late Thursday of the decrease in doses. Other states — including Oregon, Iowa, Maine, Illinois and Florida — are also receiving fewer doses than initially expected.
Virginia this week received 72,125 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which the state began distributing to frontline health workers at 18 hospitals. The state also has ordered 146,400 doses of the Moderna vaccine, which is expected to be approved soon by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. If all goes to plan, the Moderna doses will arrive the week of Dec. 21, VDH said.
