Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney receives his COVID-19 vaccine shot at the Arthur Ashe Athletic Center in March 2021. Photo courtesy city of Richmond
As of Monday, March 29, 28.1% of Virginians have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, and 15% of the state’s population is fully vaccinated, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
So far, 3.5 million vaccine doses have been administered statewide, and 2.3 million people have been vaccinated with at least one dose. The state is averaging 59,538 administered doses daily, VDH reported. New infections increased last week by 10,542 cases, a small climb from the previous week. The current seven-day positivity rate statewide is 5.8%, up .2% from the previous week. VDH also recorded 92 more COVID-related deaths last week. As of Monday, the state has 616,509 total cases and 10,219 deaths.
Dr. Danny Avula, the state’s vaccine coordinator, said Friday that the Richmond region and Northern Virginia will be receiving a significant increase in vaccine doses beginning this week. This move comes after higher risk residents from around the state have received their shots, addressing greater demand that has led some people to drive several hours seeking the vaccine. Avula said he expects Northern Virginia to receive 20% to 30% more doses this week than last week. Meanwhile, more regions of Virginia have moved to phase 1c, including Southwest, Southern and northwestern Virginia, as well as the Eastern Shore and the Fredericksburg area.
