Arlington County is starting to administer vaccine booster shots today, as the rate of new Covid cases continues to decline ever so gradually.
Following federal guidance, the county’s health department says it will administer a booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine to qualified individuals, as defined in the press release below. The jabs will be available by appointment only at the county vaccination sites at the Arlington Mill and Walter Reed community centers.
‘Kindness Yard Sale’ in Penrose — “Susan Thompson-Gaines wants to spread kindness. This weekend, she’s doing it through a big yard sale at her house. She says it’s hard to miss the home she shares with her husband, David — it’s the yellow house with purple trim at the corner of South Second and South Fillmore streets in Arlington… what makes this yard sale different is that the proceeds are all spent on acts of kindness.” [WTOP]
Flood Cleanup for Pike Businesses — From WUSA 9’s Matthew Torres: “A dental hygienist sent me this other video of the flash flooding in Columbia Pike in Arlington. Their business had to close today as they clean up the water that seeped through. Other businesses are having to do the same thing.” [Twitter]
(Updated at 4:05 p.m.) Arlington’s average rate of new daily Covid cases has plateaued over the past two weeks.
The seven-day moving average currently stands at about 32-33 daily cases. It’s remained around that level, give or take two cases per day, since Aug. 9. The plateau followed a month-long rise in cases since the beginning of July, fueled by the more contagious Delta variant.
(Updated at 10:40 a.m.) A day after declaring that vaccine booster shots were “not currently available,” Arlington started offering them.
“On Tuesday, August 17, Arlington County Public Health will begin offering an additional, or third, dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (Moderna and Pfizer) to certain immunocompromised people,” Arlington County announced yesterday in a press release. “This follows FDA’s amended Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and the CDC’s adoption of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ recommendation.”
Arlington County has reached a “substantial” amount of community transmission, according to the CDC, amid a national “surge” in Covid cases.
As the highly contagious delta variant of the virus spreads and sets new records, Arlington is not being spared. But the county is still well below this past winter’s high water marks in terms of cases and hospitalizations.
(Updated at 11:05 a.m.) Earlier this summer, new coronavirus cases were reaching new lows. Now cases remain on the rise across the county, Commonwealth and the country.
In Arlington today another 18 cases were reported, bringing the seven-day trailing average up to 16 cases per day, the highest point since May 5.
The rate of new coronavirus cases in Arlington hit a fresh summer high today.
New Covid cases remain low relative to earlier in the pandemic, but rose to a seven-day trailing average of nine cases per day today, after 13 new cases were reported.
Virginia is “strongly” recommending that all elementary students, staff and teachers wear masks indoors this fall.
The guidance from the state health and education departments, which is not binding, recommends requiring masks until “there has been sufficient time to allow for children [under 12] to be fully vaccinated,” the Washington Post reported.
The net count of coronavirus cases in Arlington has barely budged over the past 2 to 3 weeks.
On May 22, the Virginia Dept. of Health reported a cumulative total of 15,289 cases in Arlington over the course of the pandemic. Today, June 9, that number is 15,290, after five cases were removed overnight.
Arlington hasn’t just seen a drop in new coronavirus cases, it has seen its cumulative number of cases go backwards over the past few days.
On Friday, the Virginia Dept. of Health reported a total of 15,285 cases in Arlington over the course of the pandemic. Today, that same figure was 15,284, for a net negative number of new cases over that time span, according to VDH data.
(Updated at 4 p.m.) A total of 75 new coronavirus cases have been reported in Arlington over the past week, after four straight days of single-digit case counts.
That’s the lowest trailing seven-day case total since July 26, 2020, and the first four-day streak of single-digit cases since late June 2020. It comes as new COVID-19 cases are declining in 37 states, including Virginia, while no states are seeing rising cases.
