vaccine

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Arlington County Now Offering Vaccine Booster Shots to Eligible Individuals

By ARLnow.com
A person receiving a vaccine in Arlington (Image via Arlington County/YouTube)

(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.”

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington’s Biggest House Numbers? — “In the early days of the pandemic, I went on a quixotic quest to walk every one of the 1,114 blocks in my Arlington, Virginia, ZIP code, cataloging the styles of the address numbers on every house along the way… I have kept an eye on the house numbers in Arlington ever since, and imagine my joy this spring when suddenly, on a street I biked down every week, a new set of enormous house numbers appeared.” [Slate, Twitter]

Stepped Up DUI Patrols Begin Today — “This Labor Day, the Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) is participating in the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over impaired driving awareness campaign, which runs from August 18th through September 6th, 2021. This campaign aims to drastically reduce drunk driving on our nation’s roadways through a two-pronged approach of education and enforcement.” [ACPD]

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Arlington’s Rise in Covid Cases May Be Slowing

By ARLnow.com

After a month of rising Covid cases, there are some signs that the growth in new cases appears to be slowing.

The seven-day moving average of new daily cases increased by only one over the past week — from 31 to 32 cases per day — the slowest weekly growth since the county’s coronavirus case count started rising one month ago, amid the nationwide surge of the virus’ delta variant.

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News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Vax Mandade for County, APS Employees — “Arlington County Government and Arlington Public Schools (APS) will implement a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for employees. This joint action, effective August 30, is a necessary step to help keep the community safe and is consistent with COVID-19 public health guidance. This policy will also apply to interns, volunteers, substitutes, and contractors… All unvaccinated employees will be required to be tested at least weekly for COVID-19 to limit the potential spread in the workforce and in the community. Testing will be provided at no cost to the employee.” [Arlington County]

Mask Mandate for Va. Schools — “Virginia will require all students, teachers and staff in K-12 schools to wear masks indoors this fall, even if they are vaccinated, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced Thursday. The mandate, set forth in a public health emergency order, is sure to stir controversy and anger amid an already fractious debate over education in the state.” [Washington Post, Gov. Ralph Northam]

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Langston Blvd Plan Meets Resistance — “Following this May’s release of area planning maps and a presentation on density from consultant AECOM, a furious screed was published by Lyon Village Civic Association president John Carten. Though the process is still in the community engagement phase that precedes concrete recommendations, the hint of possible changes in the General Land Use Plan prompted the Lyon Village group to predict a parade of horribles.” [Falls Church News-Press]

New Clarendon Apartment Building Sold — “Trammell Crow Residential has sold the Alexan Earl, a 333-unit multifamily building at 1122 N. Hudson St., to Lincoln Property Co. for $192 million… The Earl represents the first phase of the long-planned Red Top Cab redevelopment… Shooshan continues to plan for the second phase, a roughly 250-unit building fronting Washington Boulevard at the intersection with 13th Street North. It expects to start demolition this fall.” [Washington Business Journal]

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NEW: Arlington County Considering Vaccine Mandate for Employees

By ARLnow.com
A vial of the COVID-19 vaccine (DoD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II)

Following the lead of the state and the federal government, Arlington County is considering a mandate for its employees and contractors to be vaccinated.

Last week President Biden announced that federal employees must either sign forms attesting to be vaccinated or submit to mandatory masking, weekly testing and distancing. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced a similar policy for more than 100,000 state employees yesterday.

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Vaccine Efforts Hone in on Myth-Busting, Young People to Target Disparities

By Jo DeVoe

Amid a rise in coronavirus cases, community leaders and the Arlington County Public Health Division are continuing to find ways to target particular demographics for which more outreach is needed.

So far, 70% of the adult population in Arlington and 61.8% of the county’s entire population has at last one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, excluding federal doses, according to the Virginia Dept. of Health dashboard. Nearly 64% of the adult population and 56% of the overall population is fully vaccinated. But these percentages start to vary more when broken down by age group, race and ethnicity.

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Coronavirus Cases Still Rising in Arlington Amid Renewed Focus on Masks

By ARLnow.com
A discarded face mask in Crystal City (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(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.

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Newly Renovated Columbia Pike Library Reopens After 16 Months

By Matt Blitz
Children and Arlington Public Library Director Diane Kresh, right, prepare to cut a ribbon to open the newly renovated Columbia Pike Public Library (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 2:40 p.m.) With a snip of a ribbon, the newly-renovated Columbia Pike Branch Library officially opened for the first time since March 2020.

The library on S. Walter Reed Drive, which first opened in 1975, underwent a significant makeover including new furnishings, updated carpeting, fresh coats of paint, additional meeting rooms, modernized audio-visual equipment and new lighting.

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Arlington’s Covid Rate Remains Low Despite Gradual Return to Normality

By ARLnow.com
Masked and unmasked pedestrians in Ballston (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Anecdotally, at least, fewer people seem to be wearing masks out in public in Arlington.

While some remain cautious — or, perhaps, they are not yet fully vaccinated and are following health guidelines — locals seem increasingly comfortable patronizing local businesses sans mask.

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Will Incentives Close Arlington’s Gap in Vaccination Rates?

By Jo DeVoe
Coasters from Arlington County encouraging people to get vaccinated (courtesy Arlington County)

(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) Patrons at nine restaurants in Arlington may have noticed new cocktail napkins and coasters with QR codes floating around last week.

These coasters and napkins are courtesy of Arlington County as part of its vaccination effort, county communications director Bryna Helfer tells ARLnow.

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