Issue 96

Prince William County

Next week will be the last Wheeler Report issue of 2021. Knowing the last two weeks of the year get rather busy and people's minds can be on other things, this week I devoted a portion of this issue to where we are with COVID-19 in our community and vaccination rates.

While I encourage you to review the visual representations and informative data provided, simply put, COVID-19 isn't behind us. As of December 13, Prince William County has a high level of transmission. As of December 11, our weekly positivity rate was 6.7%. Due to the high transmissibility of the new variant Omicron (issue 94), indications are this will rise over the coming weeks. Fortunately, booster vaccination rates are rising, but we still have significant progress to make.

This is a time of connecting with family and friends. Please, do so safely (issue 95) and take a few moments to encourage all those who is eligible to get the booster shot.

The level of community transmission in PWC, as well as all of the surrounding counties, remains high.

Graph from the Prince William Health District (PWHD) COVID-19 Dashboard. Data as of December 13.

Graph from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) COVID-19 Dashboard. Data as of December 13.

As of December 11, the weekly rate of new cases in PWC was 6.7%.

Graph and data from VDH COVID-19 dashboard.

Graph and data from VDH Dashboard.

Data from VDH COVID-19 Dashboard, updated on December 15.

Graph from PWHD COVID-19 Dashboard. Data as of December 13.

The Prince William Health District released a statement Friday, December 17, that given the current state of the pandemic both here and around the world, the ACIP reaffirmed that receiving any vaccine is better than being unvaccinated. Individuals who are unable or unwilling to receive an mRNA vaccine can continue to have access to J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine. Getting vaccinated and getting a booster dose when you are eligible is still the best way to protect yourself from COVID-19 and prevent severe disease, hospitalization, and death. If people have questions about which vaccine is best for them, they should talk to their healthcare provider.

On April 13, the CDC paused administration of the single-dose J&J vaccine for 10 days while federal scientists studied the occurrence of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), a rare blood clotting issue, among the then 7 million people who had received the vaccine. At that time, there were cases of six women who experienced the condition, including one death. Most reports of this serious condition, which involves blood clots with low platelets, occurred in adult women younger than 50 years old. After further study, the pause was lifted when the safety review determined that the vaccine’s benefits outweighed the risks.

Since then, public health officials have been closely monitoring the situation. More recent data show that the rate of TTS in people who received the J&J vaccine is higher than previous estimates in both women and men and in a wider age range, although the problem is still rare. According to the CDC, there have been 54 cases of this clotting condition, between March 2 and August 31. As of December 9, there have been nine deaths. In total, more than 17 million J&J doses have been administered.

This is an added meeting, specifically for Redistricting. Therefore, the entire meeting is a Public Hearing and Public Comment Time is not listed aa a separate agenda item.

If you would like to provide comment on the Plan 2 map, you are invited to attend the public hearing on December 21 at 7:30 pm in the Board Chambers of the James J. McCoart Administration Building. You may also leave your comments here and they will be shared with the Board prior to the public hearing.

Based on the Code of Virginia, precincts must be wholly located within local, state and congressional election boundaries. The Supreme Court of Virginia is responsible for redistricting the state and congressional boundaries, which is not expected to be complete before the date of the county’s public hearing.

Therefore, the precincts in the proposed map are based on the proposed local election boundaries and the current state and congressional boundaries. Once the court adopts new state and congressional boundaries, the county will have to reprecinct again in early 2022 to ensure that precincts are wholly located within all election boundaries.

Through Friday, January 14, the study team is now asking for your feedback (Spanish feedback form) on these draft alternative improvements that will be used to develop recommendations for the final report that is scheduled to be released in spring 2022. 

Pre-registration is requested. You can include any questions you have in the in the registration form.

On Wednesday, January 26, from 8:00 pm to 12:00 pm (inclement weather back-up date is Thursday, January 27), the PWC Continuum of Care (CoC) is conducting its annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count of persons experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. The PIT is required by the Department of Housing & Urban Development and provides a “snapshot” of the nature and extent of homelessness in our area. The data collected is used to inform funding decisions, support services and resource planning, as well as raise public awareness about homelessness.

The CoC needs your help counting/surveying persons at pre-identified locations who are actively experiencing homelessness the night of PIT. If you would like to help, and meet the volunteer criteria below, register to volunteer here. You will be contacted about a mandatory training day.

The PWC Department of Social Services is the lead for the CoC, which includes Prince William County, City of Manassas, and City of Manassas Park. 

On Tuesday, December 14, the PWC Fire and Rescue System held its fifth annual Medal Day Awards Ceremony honoring fire and rescue members for exemplary achievements and heroism. The ceremony was preformed virtually due to COVID-19.

The fire and rescue members, recognized, exemplify the daily commitment to exceptional service to the citizens they serve. The awards demonstrate the level of skill and valor with which they respond to each and every emergency call and how they continuously improve their service to our community and its residents. You can see a complete list of those honored here and view the virtual ceremony in the video below.

The four schools receiving the designation are Ashland Elementary, Tyler Elementary, Parkside Middle, and Porter Traditional. Three of the schools, Ashland Elementary, Parkside Middle, and Porter Traditional, have the unique distinction of being the first schools in the Division to receive the award for the second time since the program’s inception in Virginia in 2018-19. You can read the full list of PWC Purple Heart schools here.