{"id":8775,"date":"2021-02-08T19:15:48","date_gmt":"2021-02-08T19:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/roanoke\/?p=8775"},"modified":"2024-07-22T15:26:35","modified_gmt":"2024-07-22T15:26:35","slug":"community-update-february-8th-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/roanoke\/2021\/02\/08\/community-update-february-8th-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Vaccines and Health Equity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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RCAHD Community Health Update
\n<\/span>A Roanoke City & Alleghany Health Districts publication<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As director of the Roanoke City & Alleghany Health Districts (RCAHD), I am extremely proud of the work our staff has done to vaccinate thousands of our citizens each week. With partners such as Carilion Clinic, our federally qualified health centers, and local retail pharmacies, well over 20,000 frontline essential workers and older residents have now received at least one dose of vaccine through RCAHD partnership clinics.
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The RCAHD currently receives 3150 doses of COVID-19 vaccine every week for the over 25,000 people who have expressed interest in getting the vaccine through our online pre-registration survey and who meet current Phase 1B eligibility criteria. Thousands more people join the list every day. At this time, we are prioritizing vaccine distribution based on occupation (the top three tiers of Phase 1B \u201cessential workers\u201d), age, race and ethnicity, and geographic location. Because older individuals are more likely to have severe illness and death associated with COVID-19 infections, we have prioritized vaccine appointments for those residents who are over age 75. Because healthcare workers, people who work in law enforcement, hazmat, or corrections, and K-12 and childcare center employees are more likely to get exposed to the virus and less likely to have the option to work from home, these essential workers have also been prioritized. We expect it will take the rest of February to vaccinate this entire group of workers.
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When we distribute vaccine, a foremost consideration is: How do our decisions address health equity? In the context of COVID vaccination efforts, \u201chealth equity\u201d means that we are intentional in our efforts to assure that our residents have access to the vaccine, no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they have. We also need to consider communities that have had higher rates of COVID-19 and\/ or lower rates of interest in the vaccine. To achieve equity, we need to consider what disadvantages some of our residents may face and we need to work with our partners to overcome those disadvantages.
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So what steps are we taking to achieve equity?<\/span><\/h3>\n
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