Coronavirus cases in Arlington are down, today hitting the lowest rate of new cases since early October.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that the pace of vaccinations is also trending down.
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vaccine
A group of Arlingtonians has worked nights and weekends to sign up nearly 2,000 members of local immigrant communities for the COVID-19 vaccine.
And the team, called the Arlington Schools Hispanic Parents Association, only advertised its services twice: once in March, when the group decided to get involved, and once when eligibility expanded to all Virginians 16 and older.
Word spread by mouth, text and through small social networks among mostly Spanish-speaking communities in Arlington.
"For the first couple of weeks, we were overwhelmed," said ASHPA member (and former Arlington School Board member) Tannia Talento. "In the last two weeks, it has settled down. But now that it's open to the public, we expect a second rush."
Talento and Janeth Valenzuela started ASHPA in 2016 with two other women to address the communication gap among the county, the school system, and Spanish-speaking and other immigrant households. During the pandemic, the group pivoted to focusing on weekly food distributions, rent support, mental health education and now, registering people for vaccine appointments through the community health center, Neighborhood Health.
"I'm very proud of my team," Valenzuela said. "We want to help our community get vaccinated."
It has been almost two weeks since anyone 16 and older officially became eligible to get a shot and the number of vaccinated people continues to rise in Arlington County -- more than 68,000 people in Arlington are fully vaccinated as of today, according to the Virginia Dept. of Health.
Now that the vaccine is widely available, focus has shifted to getting those hesitant to get the vaccine -- or unable to get it for other reasons -- into vaccination clinics.
Talento and Valenzuela said they did encounter vaccine hesitancy in February and March but the bigger hurdles they face involve access. They worry that hesitancy is used to gloss over these other, surmountable barriers.
"In the beginning, it was difficult. Most of the population did not want the vaccine," Valenzuela said. "It's part of the culture in third-world countries to talk bad about vaccines. We had to work with that and let them know the vaccine is something to open the economy in this country and get back the life they had."
But when hesitant folks saw their community leaders get vaccinated, they changed their minds, she said. A few skeptical community members do remain, however, she noted.
Talento said she spends more time helping people access the vaccine than convincing them it is safe to take. Some did not think they were eligible back in February, even though they were.
Getting vaccinated in Arlington now just takes a couple of clicks and a jab.
A month after Arlington joined other Northern Virginia locales in pleading for more vaccine supply from the state, the supply of unvaccinated arms rather than vaccine doses is quickly becoming the limiting factor.
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Jail to Reopen to Visitors — “Sheriff Beth Arthur has announced a modified reopening of in-person visitation for those remanded to the Arlington County Detention Center. Relatives and friends will regain the ability to visit loved ones in person beginning May 1. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person visitation at the Arlington County Detention Center has been suspended for more than a year.” [Arlington County]
HQ2 to Feature Small Local Businesses — “Amazon.com Inc. plans to prioritize leasing retail space at its D.C.-area offices to businesses owned by people from historically underrepresented groups, an official with the e-commerce and cloud computing giant said recently. ‘We’re still in the process of curating and finding those retailers, but our goal is small, local, minority- and women- owned,’ Joe Chapman, Amazon’s director of global real estate and facilities, said of the company’s retail leasing strategy during a meeting of Arlington’s long range planning committee April 19.” [Washington Business Journal]
Arlington has hit new milestones for coronavirus cases and vaccinations.
As of this morning, the cumulative number of reported cases reached 15,007, rising above 15,000 for the first time, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. One death and one new hospitalization were reported overnight, bringing Arlington’s pandemic total to 252 deaths and 827 hospitalizations.
School Reopening Protest Tonight — “Arlington parents frustrated by Arlington Public Schools’ unwillingness to add more in-person instructional days this school year will rally ahead of the next school board meeting to let their voices be heard… [from] 5:30-7 p.m., ahead of the next Arlington County School Board meeting.” [Press Release]
Arlington Gets ‘Tree City USA’ Designation — “The Arlington County government on April 30 will receive its 24th annual ‘Tree City USA’ designation from the National Arbor Day Foundation, honoring the community’s efforts in tree planting and preservation. The award will be presented at the county’s annual Arbor Day celebration, an affair downscaled due to the pandemic but slated to be held at Carlin Springs Elementary School.” [Sun Gazette]
The rate of new coronavirus cases in Arlington has reached the lowest point since October.
A total of 167 cases have been reported over the past week. That follows about two months of the case total fluctuating between about 200-300 new cases per week.
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Arlington County is halting use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after a federal warning about rare blood clots.
The temporary pause in use of the one-shot vaccine at county-operated vaccine clinics is “out of an abundance of caution,” Arlington County said in a statement this morning.
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County Opening Free Testing Site Today — “Arlington County is opening a no-cost, no-appointment, COVID-19 testing kiosk in the parking lot at Courthouse Plaza in partnership with Curative, which operates two additional sites in the County. The kiosk will be open seven days a week from 12-8 p.m., starting Tuesday, April 13.” [Arlington County]
Fmr. Arlington Waiter Now a Real Estate Kingpin — “In 2013, Heider, then 25, was working at an Italian restaurant in Shirlington when his manager became the assistant to a local real-estate agent. When this agent moved to Washington Fine Properties, Heider’s former manager brought him on to help. As the assistant to the assistant, Heider worked without any base pay, making money only when he brought in referrals. At night, he waited tables at the Crystal City Morton’s.” [Washingtonian]
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Arlington’s rate of new coronavirus cases is continuing to hold relatively steady, as vaccinations continue as an accelerated clip.
The trailing seven-day total of new reported cases in the county has not been above 300 since Feb. 17. It also has not dropped below 199. As of today, it stands at 243 weekly cases.
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(Updated at 1 p.m.) Arlington County is a bit behind its neighbors, but nonetheless is entering Phase 1C of its COVID-19 vaccination effort.
Alexandria entered 1C earlier this week, and Fairfax County was accepting 1C appointments this morning. Arlington County’s vaccination website still says those in 1C are ineligible, but that is changing amid a surge of vaccine supply from the state.
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Arlington County is speeding up its vaccination effort thanks to an increase in vaccine supply from the state.
The county revealed the vaccination news in a daily “COVID-19 update” email Friday afternoon, following Thursday’s announcement from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam that everyone in Virginia age 16 and older will be eligible to get the vaccine starting on Sunday, April 18.