Tag: COVID-19

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In brief: Basketball blues, divisive tip line

Tony Bennett. Photo: Matt Riley/UVA Athletics

When the music stops

Virginia’s men’s basketball team, three years removed from a national championship, failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament when the brackets were announced on Sunday. (To make matters worse, Virginia Tech won the ACC Tournament and qualified as an 11-seed.) It’s the first time the Cavaliers have missed the tourney since 2013, a rare down year in the gilt-edged Tony Bennett era.

The 2022 team boasted Virginia’s signature tough defense, but displayed shocking ineptitude on offense, averaging 47 points per game across two ACC Tournament appearances. “When we did get some decent quality looks, we didn’t hit them,” Bennett reflected after the team’s loss to UNC—a fitting summary of the season as a whole.

The Hoos will host Mississippi State in the first round of the 32-team undercard National Invitational Tournament on Wednesday. The Cavaliers last qualified for the NIT in 2013, and lost to Iowa in the quarterfinals. Virginia has won the NIT twice, in 1992 and 1980. “The margin of error for this team was probably a little smaller than most, and I think they did a pretty good job most of the year. But it stings right now,” Bennett said.

2022 men’s basketball numbers to know

62.6 points scored per game, 14th out of 15 teams in the ACC
5.0 3-pointers made per game, 15th out of 15 teams in the ACC
15.3 points per game for leading scorer Jayden Gardner, 12th in the ACC
3.6 assist to turnover ratio for Reece Beekman, first in the ACC

Call off the tip line, say supes

The executive director of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents penned a letter to the Youngkin administration calling for changes to the way the Virginia Department of Education has been operating since the new gov took over.

The superintendents association “disagrees with your assumption that discriminatory and divisive concepts have become widespread in Virginia school divisions,” reads the letter from Howard Kiser. The association also calls for the elimination of the tip line, an early Youngkin initiative that allowed parents to report the teaching of “divisive concepts” to the state. The Youngkin admin’s education policies “can set public education in Virginia back many years,” the letter states.

Glenn Youngkin. Supplied photo

In brief

Wheeling and dealing

Democrats in the legislature denied Andrew Wheeler, a former Trump admin EPA leader, an environmental policy post in Governor Glenn Youngkin’s cabinet earlier this year, citing Wheeler’s history as former coal lobbyist. The Youngkin administration instead decided to hire Wheeler as a “senior adviser.”

For future generations

Third Act, a group of self-identified “old and bold” activists held a rally outside Chase Bank on the Corner this week, demanding the bank pull fossil-fuel development funding. The environmentally-minded seniors, who at one point laid on the ground, spent the afternoon chanting and holding signs.

Windy city blown away

If you’ve got a hankering to see a Cubs game or gaze into the Bean, it’ll take a little longer to get there than it used to—United Airlines will no longer run nonstop service from C’ville to Chicago’s O’Hare airport, the airline announced this week. CHO still has flights to D.C., New York, Atlanta, and Charlotte.

We guess technically it’s called the Cloud Gate. File photo

COVID lows

The number of new COVID cases in the Charlottesville area is as low as it’s been in months. From March 4 to March 10, Charlottesville and Albemarle combined saw 67 new cases. The Blue Ridge Health District reports that the latest seven-day rolling average for new cases per day is 9.6, the lowest it’s been at any point in the last six months. UVA reported just six new cases between February 27 and March 6, down from the peak in late January, which saw up to 130 cases reported in a single day. Forty-four percent of city residents, and 46 percent of county residents, have received two vaccinations and the COVID booster.

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Burned out

Area COVID cases are on the decline, but health care workers still feel overwhelmed. Photo: Blue Ridge Health District

In January, the highly contagious omicron variant brought coronavirus cases to an all-time high in the Charlottesville area. The Blue Ridge Health District reported over 11,000 new cases and nearly 200 hospitalizations—the largest surge since the pandemic started in February 2020.

Over the past few weeks, cases and hospitalizations have significantly declined. On February 13, the health district reported just six new cases. However, UVA Health employees continue to reel from the surge, which heaped additional stress upon the hospital’s limited staff.

“On my days off in January, every day it seemed like I was getting a text from work, [saying] ‘hey do you want to come and pick up, because we’re running close,’” says a UVA nurse, who wishes to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation. “It was that way all over the hospital.”

Last month, the hospital admitted over 100 coronavirus patients. Many nurses contracted the virus and had to quarantine at home, worsening the hospital’s staffing crisis.

“We started to see more patients who maybe weren’t in the hospital for COVID necessarily, but we later found out they were COVID positive,” says the nurse. “You have to put them on special isolation precautions, which makes them much more labor intensive to take care of.”

Over the course of the pandemic, intense burnout and exhaustion has led numerous health care workers to call it quits. Some units have lost all of their core staff, and are completely reliant on travel nurses, claims the nurse.

According to UVA Health spokesman Eric Swensen, about 21 percent of hospital staff—including nearly 25 percent of nurses—turned over last year. To recruit more employees, the hospital has ramped up its partnerships with nursing schools across the country, as well as developed paid training programs for various positions, like pharmacy technicians. From August to January, the hospital has hired 865 new employees.

This month, the health system received over $2 million in federal funding to expand its peer support program, designed to reduce burnout and stress, and promote mental wellness. The program, Wisdom & Wellbeing, trains employees to identify and address stressors in themselves and their co-workers, and connects them with helpful resources, including exercise classes, nutrition services, and professional counseling, explains program co-creator Dr. Richard Westphal.

“If we can recognize when we have a co-worker who has a potential stress-related illness, how do we help them get connected with professional help early?” says Westphal. “We all know that the earlier that someone engages with therapy and professional services when they have the emerging symptoms of a mental disorder, the better the outcomes.”

Though the nurse believes the wellness program is “well-intentioned,” he thinks the hospital should pay employees better. Last fall, the health system announced it planned to spend more than $30 million this fiscal year on long-awaited wage increases. He’d also like to see employees have more decision-making power.

“Make our wages competitive with travelers—that’s what would make us feel appreciated,” he says.

To keep coronavirus cases down—and reduce the heavy burden on health care workers—community members are encouraged to get vaccinated, wear N95 masks, and social distance. Immunocompromised individuals are now eligible to receive a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine three months after their third dose. 

“If you know a health care worker, just stay in touch with them and see how they’re doing,” says the nurse.

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On the rise

Drive-through testing sites, like this one at Fashion Square Mall, have seen record numbers of patients in the last few weeks. Photo: Eze Amos

Nearly two years after arriving in Charlottesville, COVID is still here—and it’s more prevalent than ever. On January 10, the Blue Ridge Health District reported 610 new cases, the most in a single day. Before the surge of the last three weeks, the highest single-day case total was 245, in February of 2020. The surge can be attributed in large part to the omicron variant, which has taken over as the most common variant in the U.S.

In a town hall last week, BRHD officials and local doctors offered additional insight on the surge, and detailed a variety of testing options.

“What we anticipate is that [cases] will continue to increase,” said BRHD COVID-19 Incident Commander Ryan McKay. “We also recognize that these numbers are probably underreported numbers,” thanks to at-home tests, asymptomatic carriers, and infected people who have not been tested. McKay encouraged those who test positive using an at-home test to report their case to the health district.

Dr. Michael Williams of UVA Health urged people to not go to an emergency room or urgent care for a COVID test, especially if they are asymptomatic.

“As the numbers have gone up, the stress and strain on hospital personnel staff, and also resources, has gone up in lockstep,” said Williams. “You will wait and you will wait and you will wait [for a test].”

Amidst this record surge, local residents have reported waiting for hours in line to get tested, while area stores have quickly sold out of at-home tests. The state health department opened a new community testing center at the Pantops Shopping Center last weekend. The site offers PCR tests by appointment, and is open Saturday through Thursday from 9am to 5:30pm. The Blue Ridge Health District also offers testing Monday through Thursday at each of its health departments, and in the JCPenney parking lot at Fashion Square Mall on Friday. Appointments can be scheduled online at vase.vdh.virginia.gov, or by calling the BRHD hotline at 972-6261.

UVA Health continues to offer free drive-through and walk-up testing at Church of the Incarnation on Mondays, and Mount Zion First African Baptist Church on Tuesdays. (This week, testing will be held at Church of the Incarnation on Wednesday.) Next Molecular also runs a testing site at the JCPenney parking lot throughout the week. Testing appointments are available at local pharmacies too.

UVA Health now has the highest number of COVID patients that it’s ever had, said Dr. Taison Bell. While a majority of these patients are unvaccinated, those who are vaccinated typically have severe high-risk conditions, like cancer.

“The vaccines were specifically designed to prevent serious illness, and they continue to do that consistently,” said Bell. “As opposed to last year when we were taking care of [patients] who were getting sick because they were not vaccinated, this year we’re not taking care of [anyone] who has been fully vaccinated and especially boosted.”

Omicron is also impacting children more severely. “The number of children, including infants and newborns, who have become infected and have been critically ill and/or die is still a very small number, but it’s much higher than it has been to date,” said Williams.

Dr. Paige Perriello of Pediatric Associates of Charlottesville says she’s seen an uptick in kids coming into her office with coronavirus, and stresses that the increased demand for testing has had a major impact on health care workers.

“What happens during [testing] surges is both you need more people and they’re hard to come by, and people themselves are getting sick and they’re not available to participate in the testing sites,” says Perriello. “We started with staffing shortages and then you add an incredibly contagious variant on top of that, and those shortages go down even more.”

The surge has also had an impact on local schools. Since returning from winter break, Hannah Helm, a teacher at Charlottesville High School, says she has seen more absences in her classes than usual. Though she appreciates the school district’s mask mandate and other safety measures, she wishes the administration would implement stricter cleaning guidelines.

“Last year, we had a very clear-cut card system. At the end of the day when you would leave, you would ensure that there was a red card that was visible, so that custodial staff [knew] that that room had not been flipped,” she explains. “Now this year we’re not doing that, or if we are doing that, I’m not aware that we should be.”

This week, thousands of students from around the world will also return to Charlottesville. UVA has required all students, faculty, and staff to be vaccinated and boosted, but Stephen Marrone of United Campus Workers of Virginia at UVA believes the school could be doing more to protect the community.

“It’s a good idea to have boosters and vaccinations required…but if you look at the numbers of people getting infected, and the number of people getting really sick, it’s clearly not enough,” he says. “By the time you have symptoms, you’ve already been spreading the disease.”

Marrone wants to see mandatory weekly testing for everyone, and also wishes the university would consult its employees when making major decisions. “The number of people who currently have any say in our working conditions and the community’s living conditions is really, really small, compared to the people who are being put at risk,” he adds.

Health officials strongly encouraged everyone to get vaccinated and boosted to protect themselves from the highly-transmissible variant. Walk-ins and appointments are available Monday through Saturday at the Community Vaccination Center at Seminole Square.

What’s the mood on Grounds?

Amid the rise in coronavirus cases, UVA’s vax-mandated students, faculty, and staff will return to classrooms, dining halls, and fraternity houses this week.

“In-person instruction is a core part of our mission as an institution,” wrote President Jim Ryan on January 7. “UVA public health experts have advised us that classroom spaces are low-risk environments for infection.”

Some students are relieved to be returning to Grounds. “I don’t think the new variant will change the behavior of UVA students as a whole,” says Sullivan, a second-year student. “At this point, most students have become fairly unconcerned.”

Others are more wary about the return to in-person instruction.

“Although I’m of course eager for things to return to normal, I don’t think that’s currently possible with how many cases there have been even in just the UVA community recently,” says third-year student Maryann. “I think it would’ve been better to wait for the surge to slow down before introducing thousands of students back to Grounds.”

“I’m pretty much as nervous as I was at the start of spring semester last year,” says Patrick. “I definitely think it’s wise to keep a low profile and not party too much the first two weeks so I can see how many COVID cases are active when we get back on Grounds.”

Alyssa is conflicted about the return, given the value of in-person education and how much students have already missed due to the pandemic. “I think I am happy with the decision to return to in-person school as long as students are responsible and conscious of their interactions with the community,” she says. We’ll see how it goes.—Kristin O’Donoghue

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Stay protected

COVID-19 is once again on the rise, and in light of the new omicron variant, the CDC is encouraging all vaccinated adults to get a booster shot. Photo: Blue Ridge Health District

Since South Africa reported the omicron variant to the World Health Organization on November 24, this new form of coronavirus has been detected in at least 38 countries. At press time, omicron had not yet been identified in Virginia, but several dozen cases have been reported in at least 17 states, including Maryland, New Jersey, and New York.

According to Blue Ridge Health District Director Dr. Denise Bonds, it is still too early to tell if the omicron variant is more transmissible or deadlier than the original strain of the virus, or other known variants like the delta and alpha. The delta variant currently accounts for 99.9 percent of new cases in the U.S.

“There are several mutations that cause structural changes in the virus that may make it easier to be infected,” explains Bonds. “That may mean that our defense systems—that is our vaccines and the antibodies that you develop—may not work quite as well.”

While it is unknown if the omicron variant causes more severe symptoms of the virus, everyone who has tested positive for the new variant in the U.S. so far has experienced mild symptoms, and most have been fully vaccinated, Bonds says.

“We don’t know if it’s mild symptoms because that’s what the variant causes, or if the individuals’ symptoms were mild because they were vaccinated,” says Bonds. “There are so many things we’re still trying to figure out.”

During a UVA Health press conference last week, Dr. Costi Sifri, director of hospital epidemiology, explained that it’s possible the omicron variant may begin to overtake the delta variant in some places, but not others.

“They may become coexisting and both be circulating at the same time,” he said. “It may be dependent on local factors, like what the level of vaccination or immunity is in a particular location.”

Since the start of the pandemic, the coronavirus has mutated as it’s spread across the world, leading to the emergence of multiple variants, explains Bonds.

“Viruses are really good at shuffling their instructions,” she says. “Every time that virus moves from person to person, or even is replicated within an individual, it’s an opportunity for those instructions to get just a little bit shuffled up.”

“Sometimes that change in the instructions doesn’t have any significance. But sometimes they get lucky, and the changes can result in something that’s quite infectious, like the delta variant,” she adds.

Especially in light of the new variant, the CDC is now encouraging all vaccinated adults to get COVID-19 booster shots. While those who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine should get their booster six months after their second dose, those who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson should get their booster two months after their initial shot.

“Getting that booster shot will essentially remind your immune system, and ramp it up just a little bit so that you’ll have plenty of antibodies and other immune cells to protect yourself,” says Bonds.

Since late September, the arrival of booster shots has helped to bring COVID cases down significantly in the Blue Ridge Health District, says Bonds. Around 22 percent of residents in Charlottesville and 26 percent of residents in Albemarle County have received a third dose of the vaccine. Appointments and walk-ins are available Monday through Saturday at the Community Vaccination Center at Seminole Square.

Bonds also urges everyone to wear masks and social distance in public spaces, spend time outdoors, and wash their hands on a regular basis.

“If someone hasn’t gotten vaccinated, this really should be a call for them to come and get their vaccine,” she says.

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At last

PC: File photo

Hattie Billmeier was a little nervous, but excited. She rolled up her sleeve, and in a “split second” it was all over—she got her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“It felt good,” says Billmeier, a second grader at Venable Elementary School. “It just gives you a little pinch.”

Afterwards, Billmeier and her cousins, who also got the shot, celebrated the long-awaited occasion with free snow cones at their pediatrician’s office.

“We were proud of her. I’ve never seen a kid so excited to get stuck with a needle before,” says Hattie’s father Zak Billmeier. “It’s been two years of pretty constant fear around this…so she felt relieved that finally she could have the shot now.”

Since November 6, nearly 5,600 kids ages 5 through 11 in the Blue Ridge Health District have gotten their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, which was approved for pediatric use by the CDC on November 2.

The vaccine offers the same protection as the one for older children and adults, but contains one-third the dosage, says Jen Fleisher, BRHD COVID communications lead. Because of the lower dosage, kids typically experience mild side effects, like fatigue, joint pain, and arm soreness. (Billmeier says she experienced no side effects.)

“What we’ve mainly heard from parents is that ‘my kid was just really tired,’” says Fleisher.

Hattie Billmeier PC: courtesy of subject

Over 100 vaccine appointments are now available every day for children at the BRHD community vaccination center at Seminole Square, located inside the former Big Lots next to Marshalls.

The health district is also hosting weekly drive-through clinics at city elementary schools. Many local pediatricians are offering vaccines, too.

Though young children are much less likely to become severely ill and die of COVID-19, the vaccine can prevent them from transmitting the virus to people who are high-risk, especially those who live with them.

“If your whole family is fully vaccinated, you’re reducing that risk of hospitalization for the entire household,” explains Fleisher. “You’re also reducing that risk of complications for teachers, and increasing your chance of having a normal school day.”

“There are kids who are very high-risk and they want to see their friends,” she adds. “I personally know families who have been quarantined for two years.”

Fleisher encourages parents who are hesitant to get their child vaccinated to voice their concerns. At the health district’s vaccine sites, local families and medical professionals who participated in the clinical trials are available to answer any questions parents—or kids—may have.

“The main concern I hear is [that] it’s so new,” says Fleisher. However, “everything is happening at a rapid pace because for the first time there are all these situations that make it more viable to have clinical trials…It’s not because they are rushing it.”

For his family, it’s been nice to finally be “a part of the solution,” says Zak Billmeier.

“It’s about keeping everybody safe, all of us together as a community,” he says. “It’s the best thing we can do for each other.”

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In brief: Lee statue down, COVID hospitalizations up

Photo: Eze Amos.

Richmond Lee statue goes down

Workers removed Richmond’s gigantic statue of Robert E. Lee last week, following years of advocacy from activists, politicians, and lawyers. The 21-foot-tall, five-ton casting, the largest Confederate statue in the U.S., was cut in two and sent to an undisclosed location. Its stone plinth still stands, covered in graffiti from last summer’s protests following the death of George Floyd.  

Following the monument’s removal, a team started excavating an outlying corner of the stone pedestal, expecting to find a 133-year-old time capsule that historical records suggest was hidden inside. After a day of searching, however, the capsule never materialized, and the team abandoned the search. (Who knows if the capsule would have been useful: When Albemarle County removed its Confederate soldier statue last fall, the county found that the time capsule buried beneath that statue had sprung a leak, and the artifacts inside were essentially ruined.)

On Saturday, state officials placed a new time capsule in the Richmond monument’s pedestal. It includes a Teen Vogue article written by Zyahna Bryant; a 2020 photo of two Black ballerinas standing in front of the graffiti-covered plinth; an expired vial of the Pfizer COVID vaccine; a collection of essays from Pulitzer-Prize winning Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist Michael Paul Williams; and other artifacts chosen as a “representation of the Virginia of today, one rooted in our values of inclusion, equity, and diversity,” Governor Ralph Northam’s office says. 

Hospitalizations from COVID on the rise 

The UVA health system saw 15 new COVID patients hospitalized on September 8. That’s the most new COVID hospitalizations in a single day for the health system since January of this year. As of September 9, the health system had 70 COVID patients in the hospital. The Blue Ridge Health District has seen a serious spike in cases this fall. The weekly average of new cases last week was as high as it’s been since February.  

“We left a lot of things on the table. We just need more touchdowns.”

UVA quarterback Brennan Armstrong, after scoring five touchdowns in a win over Illinois. That’s the spirit, Brennan.

In brief

Pot arrests down 

The Times-Dispatch reports that Virginia’s new marijuana law is having exactly its intended effect. In the seven weeks following the July 1 change decriminalizing simple possession of small amounts of weed, only 25 marijuana-related arrests were made in the Richmond area. The same stretch in 2020 saw 257 arrests.  

Athletes take shots

Charlottesville High is requiring all students who participate in Virginia High School League sports to get vaccinated, the school announced last week. Students must have their first dose by September 15. “Vaccines and masks are critical in stopping the spread and protecting students & staff. Go Black Knights!” tweeted CHS principal Eric Irizarry in conjunction with the announcement. 

Judge sides with JMU in school paper suit 

Photo: Wikipedia.

Earlier this summer, the editor-in-chief of JMU’s student newspaper, The Breeze, sued the school, saying that JMU had failed to provide requested data about COVID spread within the student body. This week, a judge ruled in favor of the university, saying that JMU wasn’t required to share the requested information because it would have violated patient confidentiality. 

Lt. gov. candidate cans staff 

Republican candidate for lieutenant governor Winsome Sears fired six staff members, including her campaign manager, last week. Fired staffers say they were given no explanation. The election is just seven weeks away, and the Sears team “is focused on running a lean campaign,” one of Sears’ remaining advisers told The Washington Post.  

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Early returns

County schools saw an increase in COVID cases when students returned for five-days-a-week, in-person classes. Photo: Albemarle County Schools.

Last week, city and county public schools welcomed students back for five-days-a-week, in-person instruction for the first time since March 2020. Both districts have already reported COVID-19 cases among students, but say they still feel confident in their health and safety precautions. 

After the first day of classes, two city schools students reported symptoms, and Assistant Superintendent Jim Henderson sent a message to families. 

“This week, we have had several students report COVID diagnoses, including two who spent time at our schools. These situations are unfortunate but, in a pandemic, they are not unexpected,” Henderson wrote on August 25. “We are doing our part by following all CDC recommendations. We continue to tweak our implementation to keep everyone as safe as possible.”

“The health department remains confident in our mitigation measures,” wrote CHS Principal Eric Irizarry after the first day. “While we anticipate that this incident is contained, it’s a good reminder for all of us to promote healthy behaviors.”

At press time, city schools reported 13 total student coronavirus cases and nine staff cases so far this year.

Albemarle County Public Schools report that 18 students and eight staff had confirmed COVID cases between August 23 and August 30. Those were concentrated in elementary schools—Agnor-Hurt and Stone Robinson have reported five and six student cases, respectively. 

In the area, roughly 70 percent of children aged 12 to 17 are vaccinated, according to the Blue Ridge Health District. The city schools require employees to be fully vaccinated by September 15, or they’ll be required to show a weekly negative COVID test. 

City school board member Lashundra Bryson Morsberger expressed some frustration with the state of COVID preventions in schools and the commonwealth. COVID is “worse than last August,” she wrote on Twitter last weekend. “We have less flexibility, and the kids are back in class…It feels like we’re in the twilight zone. This is crazy.”

On Grounds

Meanwhile, at UVA, the first two weeks of classes have seen 114 cases among faculty, staff, students, and contract employees. As of Monday, the university reports 84 active cases. 

Early-semester COVID case spikes were to be expected. Last fall, the rolling seven-day average of total new cases peaked at 26.9, in late September, before declining and leveling off until the beginning of the spring semester. 

The seven-day average for new cases at UVA right now is 10.4. On August 29 of last year, it was 12.7. 

As of August 29, UVA hospital had 50 COVID-positive patients in the building for treatment, including three who had been newly admitted on the 29th.  

A little further afield, Liberty University has put a campus-wide quarantine in effect, just four days after students returned for the fall semester. Unlike other Virginia schools, such as UVA and William & Mary, Liberty didn’t require students to get vaccinated before returning to Lynchburg, and the university reports 159 active cases as of August 25.

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On the rise

As the highly contagious delta variant continues to spread, local health officials are urging unvaccinated residents to get the shot. Graph: Blue Ridge Health District.

Thanks to high vaccination rates, coronavirus cases have remained largely in the single digits in the Blue Ridge Health District over the past three months. But in recent weeks, the highly contagious delta variant—which may cause more severe illness than other strains of the virus—has caused cases to spike. On July 26, the district saw 30 new cases, the highest since late April.

Last Thursday, local health officials and doctors stressed the importance of vaccination at a Blue Ridge Health District town hall event. While there have been a small number of breakthrough cases among vaccinated people in the U.S., nearly all hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among unvaccinated people. 

“If you’re vaccinated, the vaccine is working—it’s keeping you out of the hospital and lowering your symptoms,” explained Dr. Denise Bonds, medical director of the health district. “But we have found through studies that if you’re vaccinated and infected with the delta variant, you are capable of spreading that virus to other individuals.”

“We can make the assumption that most of the cases we are seeing in our area are likely delta,” she added.

In Charlottesville, about 60 percent of residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and almost 55 percent are fully vaccinated. In Albemarle County, nearly 69 percent have received at least one dose, and about 63 percent are fully vaccinated. And across the entire health district, nearly 62 percent of residents have received at least one dose, and about 56 percent are fully vaccinated.

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control recommended that people living in areas with substantial or high transmission of the virus wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status. The BRHD is currently experiencing both substantial and high community transmission—excluding Louisa County, which has moderate transmission. 

“Anyone who is unvaccinated, or if you have a medical condition that puts you at high risk because you’re immunocompromised…[we] strongly recommend you wear a mask,” said Bonds. “Or if you are living with someone or a caregiver for someone who fits that definition.”

This week, Albemarle County began requiring masks again inside county office buildings and facilities. Charlottesville has not announced any plans yet to reinstate its mask mandate. Last week, Governor Ralph Northam announced that state employees will be required to get vaccinated (and show proof) by September 1. Those who refuse to get the shot will have to get tested for the virus and show negative results every week. 

To date, around 70 percent of employees affected by the new requirement are fully vaccinated. “To the people who have hesitated, who may be worried about side effects—the time for waiting is over. Millions of people around the world have been vaccinated and we are fine,” said Northam.

During the latter portion of the town hall, the panelists answered questions previously submitted by area residents. Those tuning in to the Zoom meeting were also able to call in to ask questions. 

In response to concerns about the side effects children may experience from the vaccine, local pediatrician Paige Perriello said they typically do not get a fever or body aches like adults do, “but that’s certainly still possible, and we all know that’s the immune system doing what’s its supposed to do.”

UVA pediatrician Jeff Vergales also emphasized the importance of students, teachers, and staff wearing masks in K-12 schools—regardless of vaccination status—along with other mitigation strategies like social distancing. Charlottesville and Albemarle County school districts have already announced mask mandates, but other school systems around the state have made masks optional. (Northam has said that schools are legally obligated to follow the CDC’s universal masking recommendations.)

“We have loads of data now coming in from the pandemic in the last year that mitigation strategies in schools work,” Vergales said. “Schools were not the mass spreader events that your house would be, [or] that family gatherings would be.”

Perriello later answered questions about the delta variant, explaining that it has nearly the same symptoms as the original variant, including fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell, and fatigue. However, it does not seem to affect children more severely than other strains.

“If you’re vaccinated and you get a breakthrough infection, it’s really often a mild respiratory type of symptoms,” added Bonds. 

All panelists urged vaccinated people to talk with their unvaccinated family members and friends about getting the shot.

“One of the best things that can happen for people is to have conversations with people they trust, and it can be very helpful to hear from people who were hesitant themselves,” said Perriello.

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‘Pandemic of the unvaccinated’

gloved hands administer a vaccine into an arm
COVID-19 cases are increasing, but high vaccination rates in the Blue Ridge Health District have helped keep new infections mostly in the single digits. PC: File photo

After two months of steady, relatively low numbers of new COVID cases, Virginia is starting to once again see an increase in new cases each day. On July 23, the seven-day average of new cases in the state was 523, the highest since May 15, according to data from The New York Times. 

While the original variant is currently the most prevalent strain of the coronavirus in Virginia—making up about 87 percent of infections—state health officials predict that the more-transmissible Delta variant will soon take its place. As of Friday, there were 213 cases of the Delta variant in the state. Nationwide, the Delta variant now makes up 83 percent of new cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

In the Blue Ridge Health District, “it’s been hard to determine the actual presence of the [Delta] variant, because not all samples are going to get sequenced for the variant,” says Ryan McKay, Blue Ridge Health District COVID-19 incident commander. “Part of our working assumption is that it’s more prevalent in the community than we can actually identify.”

The Delta variant is estimated to be 60 percent more transmissible than the already highly infectious Alpha variant. It also may cause more severe illness than other strains.

While there is potential for breakthrough cases among vaccinated people, “people who are being hospitalized across the country and having the most severe experiences with the Delta variant are those who are unvaccinated,” says McKay. “It’s a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

High vaccination rates in the BRHD have helped keep new cases mostly in the single digits since early May. In Charlottesville, about 59 percent of residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and almost 54 percent are fully vaccinated. In Albemarle County, nearly 68 percent have received at least one dose, and about 62 percent are fully vaccinated.  

However, less than half of the residents in nearby Louisa County are fully vaccinated. And like the rest of the country, vaccination rates have stalled across the health district over the past several months.

To encourage more people to get the shot, the BRHD has sent community health educators and a mobile vaccine unit into neighborhoods with low vaccination rates. It has also continued to work with community leaders from demographics disproportionately impacted by the virus, particularly Black and Latino communities, to answer questions and ease concerns people may have about the shot.

McKay emphasizes that people should get vaccinated not only to protect themselves, but also those who are currently unable to get the vaccine: children under 12 and immunocompromised residents.

Despite the rise in COVID cases spurred by variants, Governor Ralph Northam hasn’t announced any plans to reinstate pandemic restrictions. For vaccinated individuals, “wearing a mask, especially indoors, if there’s lots of people and you don’t know those individuals, would be helpful,” McKay says. “That’s sort of counter to where we’ve been over the past couple of months, but we can see the numbers increasing—and we know it coincides with the expiration of the governor’s executive orders.”

“While we don’t know the extent of Delta, it’s there,” he adds. “And now we can make decisions on how we protect ourselves and our community.”

Correction: The Centers for Disease Control has now recommended that fully vaccinated people in parts of the country with “substantial or high transmission” of COVID-19 wear masks indoors.

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Vaccination hesitation

The number of people getting vaccinated in Virginia has dropped significantly in recent weeks. Graph: Virginia Department of Health.

In April, the United States began offering the coronavirus vaccine to anyone age 16 and older, and right away millions of people lined up outside stadiums, schools, and other mass vaccination centers, relieved to finally get the life-saving shot. 

But now, nearly two months later, vaccination rates have plummeted across the U.S. The country is giving out less than 1 million shots per day, compared to more than 3 million at its April peak, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Many people who want the vaccine have already received it, leaving it up to governments to reach out to the millions still hesitant to get the jab.

In Virginia, the average daily doses administered per day has fallen from 85,000 in April to 23,000 this week, even though 44 percent of the state has yet to receive a single dose. 

Since early May, coronavirus cases in the Blue Ridge Health District have been in the single digits, thanks to high vaccination rates and warmer weather. The many people who continue to wear masks in public spaces and practice social distancing—despite Governor Ralph Northam’s lift on all pandemic restrictions—have also helped keep transmission low. 

But local vaccinations have slowed down “to some extent,” says health district spokesman Ryan McKay. 

“We did see a period where really first-dib appointments for Pfizer and Moderna dropped off,” he says. “We saw a little bit of an uptick when Pfizer was made eligible and approved for 12- to 15-year-olds [on May 12], but then we’ve seen that plateau hitting us here.”

In Albemarle, 55 percent of residents are fully vaccinated. In Charlottesville that number is 48. 

However, in other counties in the health district, such as Louisa and Greene, less than 40 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.

“There is hesitancy and uncertainty about the vaccine…so [we need] to give people an opportunity to get educated on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine,” says McKay. “But also we’ve been asking people to come to us to get vaccinated. Those people who really want to go out and get it have done so.”

“Now we need to sort of change that approach, and we need to now go to people,” he says. “We have to be a little more mobile and thoughtful about heading to neighborhoods, going to schools, [and] getting out into the community to provide education and outreach to give people more access and remove some of those barriers.”

BRHD plans to continue to work with community leaders from demographics with lower vaccine rates, particularly Black and Latino communities, and host pop-up vaccine clinics in underserved neighborhoods like Friendship Court and Westhaven. 

“You have to rely on those trusted community leaders [to] help with delivering the message,” says McKay. “And to tell their own story about why they got vaccinated and their experience to help get over hesitancy.”

According to census tract records obtained by Charlottesville Tomorrow, predominantly Black neighborhoods in the city like 10th and Page and Fifeville have vaccination rates below 35 percent, while predominantly white neighborhoods like North Downtown and Greenbrier have rates between 55 and 65 percent. To date, around 31 percent of Charlottesville’s white residents are fully vaccinated compared to 24 percent of Black residents. (About one-third of vaccinated people did not report their race.)

The health district has also partnered with UVA Health to send community health workers and vaccinators door-to-door in underserved neighborhoods, allowing residents to voice any questions or concerns they have about the shot and, if they choose to, get it right on the spot. In the near future, the district plans to create a mobile vaccine unit and host additional pop-up clinics at places of employment.

“Through that outreach, we’re really able to convince people that this is a good thing,” says McKay. “And if there are people who want to get vaccinated, but for whatever reason it doesn’t fit into their schedule, we want to try to accommodate that.”

Other states have tried to encourage vaccination by offering prizes to those who get the shot. States like New York and Oregon are offering jab-getters a chance to win millions of dollars in cash or scholarships, while West Virginia is doling out custom rifles, shotguns, and trucks. This week, Washington started giving adults who get the vax pre-rolled joints, on top of incentives like lottery drawings, tickets to sporting events, and gaming systems.

Such drastic measures haven’t been necessary in the health district, says McKay.

“We’re really trying to focus on education and outreach,” he explains. “In Charlottesville and Albemarle we already have some of the highest vaccination percentages in the state…[so] at least for right now we’re not really entertaining the idea of offering incentives.”

The district ultimately hopes to meet President Joe Biden’s goal of having 70 percent of adults receive at least one dose of the vaccine by July 4.

“We need to continue to work on mitigation strategies until we can give everyone access,” says McKay. “There’s still risk, and people who can still get sick, and we just want to be mindful of that as we’re heading into summer.”