Seniors and essential workers are expected to receive their first coronavirus doses over the next two months. Aimee Cho reports.
D.C. residents age 65 and older, teachers and several categories of essential workers will be able to make appointments this month to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, officials say.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced target dates on Monday for the next vaccination signups, which all will be scheduled using the District health department website vaccinate.dc.gov.
Starting the week of Jan. 11, residents age 65 and older can schedule to receive a vaccine.
Starting the week of Jan. 25, signups can be made by “specific categories of essential workers, including public safety workers, grocery store workers, workers in preK-12 educational settings and child care settings.”
Starting the week of Feb. 1, residents with chronic medical conditions and other essential workers can make appointments.
The mayor flagged that the dates are approximate and indicate when someone can use the portal to sign up to get the vaccine, not when they actually will receive it. Also, she asked residents to only use the scheduling system when they’re eligible to do so.
“If people rush to use this portal who are not health care workers, it will create a difficult time for our health care workers, who are our Phase 1A population, from being able to use the system as it is designed," she said.
D.C. is currently in Phase 1A of vaccinations, with shots available for health care workers in settings including hospitals, long-term care facilities and pharmacies. Phase 1B is next.
D.C. has received more than 40,000 doses of the vaccine. Just under 17,000 have been administered. About 14,000 appointments to receive the vaccine are available; only about 36% of these have been scheduled.
Some health care workers may not be aware that they can receive the vaccine, Health Director Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt said Monday. The department will contact all health care workers, she said.
Go here for full info on what we know so far about who’s eligible to get the vaccine and when in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
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