Hundreds of health care workers signed up to get vaccinated Wednesday in Fairfax County, Virginia, at the county’s health department office in Reston.
Those in the Phase 1A priority group are receiving the Moderna vaccine after a health screening on their phone and a wait in their vehicles before going into one of the exam rooms. All of the scheduling is handled through the county’s call center.
Marilyn Wiley received the vaccine and said, “The vaccine did not hurt. I didn’t feel it and I’m not good with vaccines; it scares me.”
She’s a dental assistant and said despite her initial nerves, she didn’t hesitate to sign up to get vaccinated to protect herself and others.
“I feel comfortable and confident but you never know; this is all unknown for everybody,” she said.
Colin Brody, the assistant public health emergency management coordinator in Fairfax County, said they’ll be taking appointments all week.
“We have a couple of different clinics around the county that operate five days a week, four days a week depending on the location,” he says.
This Saturday, they’ll be vaccinating up to 6,000 health care workers over 10 hours at the Government Center, and it will continue for as long as there is demand and they have the vaccine.
Brody said his department is working to adjust to what he calls the new frontier of fighting COVID-19 in addition to social distancing.
“Now we actually have an offensive weapon where we can protect people before they’re even exposed. Hopefully we can decrease the number of new cases, certainly decrease the severity,” he said.
