Virginia hits Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccination goal

Virginia has hit a COVID-19 vaccination target outlined by President Joe Biden, state officials said Monday.

As of the weekend, about 70% of adults in the commonwealth have gotten at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. (The state’s data dashboard still says 69.9%, but a Virginia Department of Health spokesperson said the numbers can differ due to the process by which the data is reported to the agencies.)

Biden had announced his goal in early May. He wants the U.S. as a whole to reach the 70% target by July 4 — and the administration has teamed up with Anheuser Busch to offer free beer on the holiday if that’s accomplished.

“We did it, Virginia!” Gov. Ralph Northam said on Twitter Monday. “Grateful to the millions of Virginians who rolled up their sleeves to get vaccinated. Let’s all keep working to #VaccinateVirginia!”

Virginia was the 16th state to reach the goal, according to White House COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar. The commonwealth now has 2,000 vaccination sites, according to a White House statement.

Vaccination rates aren’t universal across the state, however.

In Norfolk, for example, only 44% of adults have gotten at least one shot, with only about 47% in Portsmouth. Hampton, Newport News, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach are all in the 50-60% range.

Dr. Danny Avula, the state’s vaccine coordinator, told The Pilot earlier this month that officials are currently focused on increasing people’s access to vaccinations, particularly in rural areas.

“What we’re recognizing in the remaining (unvaccinated) population, is absolutely there are people who are choosing not to be vaccinated, but there’s actually a large number of people who wouldn’t mind, but it wasn’t a big enough priority” to register or go to a vaccination site, Avula said. “When those potential barriers are lowered, then it makes it a much easier decision.”

But he added that the state may soon turn to incentive programs as well.

“While there is still work to do in addressing vaccine hesitancy and closing gaps in vaccination rates, I remain confident that we can keep this momentum going and defeat this virus,” Avula said in a statement Monday.

Katherine Hafner, 757-222-5208, katherine.hafner@pilotonline.com