Issue 52
Friday, February 12, 2021
Prince William County
Dear Neighbors,

We are receiving information on vaccines and their distribution almost daily. To make it more complicated, there are a lot of parties involved. The federal government determines distribution amounts for the states. The Commonwealth then determines distribution amounts for its localities. In our case, those are being sent to the Prince William Health District, a department of the Virginia Department of Health; not our county government.

But it's not quite that 'simple'. The federal government is also sending vaccines directly to pharmacies. The Commonwealth has also sent vaccines directly to hospitals and other providers. Prince William County is supporting the Prince William Health District's local call center. In addition to all the parties involved, these are unchartered waters and things can change quickly.

So yes, it can be overwhelming. I strive to provide you with the most up-to-date details we have in every issue. However, with information coming more rapidly, when I am advised of critical details that shouldn't wait until our next issue, it will be sent then in a Wheeler Report Bulletin. Also, it will be included in our next regular issue, along with an update if things have changed.

This week we've had a significant amount of information and our issue is full of the details. To hopefully help you from feeling overwhelmed, it has been packaged so you can identify the sections you are most interested in reading and skim the others.

In Service,
Chair Ann Wheeler
Vaccination Waitlist Change
As shared in our issue last week, Virginia is moving to a statewide single registration system soon. It is happening this weekend and the details of the transition were announced today by the Virginia Department of Health. We've captured the critical information for you below. You can also read today's news release in its entirety here.
What You Need To Know About the Change
  • The local waitlist pre-registration will close at 5 pm tonight, Friday, February 12.

  • Existing waiting lists will be imported to the new system and pre-registration will be temporarily unavailable throughout Virginia.  

  • During the weekend, the Commonwealth will de-duplicate and consolidate the data from the local health district systems.

  • Data from the Virginia Immunization Information System will be used to remove individuals from the pre-registration list who have already been vaccinated. 

  • Pre-registration, through the new statewide system, will be available again on Tuesday, February 16.
FAQ's
  • Do I need to register AGAIN? There is no need to pre-register again. Your ID number is valid on the new statewide site, which will give you better access to your registration information and keep your personal information not visible to the public.

  • What position am I now on the new state site? Your position on the Prince William Health District Waitlist will not change. The date and time you filled out the form and your vaccination eligibility category will remain the same.  

  • What if I have a scheduled appointment? The state’s pre-registration form does not schedule appointments. If you already have an appointment, it is still scheduled.

  • What happens to the Prince William Health District (PWHD) Call Center? The PWHD Call Center will continue answering COVID-19 test result questions and assisting with COVID-19 vaccine scheduling. However, all appointments will be booked from the new Virginia pre-registration system. The PWHD COVID-19 Call Center Information Line is (703) 872-7759 and operates Monday through Sunday from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.
PWC Vaccination Site Change

The Prince William Health District is making the following changes to vaccination locations which will provide an increase of 20 to 30 vaccination stations:
  • On Tuesday, February 16, a new vaccination site will open at Manassas Mall located at 8300 Sudley Road Manassas, VA, 20109,next to the Autobahn.
  • On Monday, February 15 at 5:00 pm, the George Mason University’s Beacon Hall and Kelly Leadership Clinic vaccination locations will close.
CVS Partnership Launches
Update on Pharmacy Partnership
featured in last issue
On Tuesday, February 9, CVS Pharmacy began registering Virginians age 65 and older who are Phase 1b eligible for vaccinations. They will begin administering these vaccinations on Friday, February 12. CVS is the first of Virginia’s pharmacy partners in the Federal Pharmacy Partnership to move forward with vaccinations. More locations and additional pharmacies are expected to start vaccinating patients in the future. We will inform you as they are announced.
Important Information on Making an Appointment

  • In the appointment process, the system will ask you to enter a ZIP code or city and then only show pharmacies within that ZIP code or city. However, if that location has no appointments available, it will then give you the option to try another ZIP code or city.
  • You do not have to go to a pharmacy in the zip code or city where you live.
  • Currently, there over 30 across Virginia, including one in PWC in Gainesville.   
  • Appointments fill up very quickly, however, the CVS appointment system states new appointments are added daily.    
Some Appointment Webpage Details
Scroll down the website page to the map. On the right of the map, select Virginia under the section "Vaccine Available In Select CVS Pharmacy Locations". A pop-up box will show locations and availability.

Note: Sometimes the pop-up box shows system busy or currently adding appointments. Close the box and use tip below a little later.

Tip: If you leave the webpage open to recheck for availability, refresh the webpage before you select Virginia to see an updated pop-up box.
Some Additional Important Details
  • Walk-in vaccinations without an appointment will not be provided.
  • The appointment for the second vaccination will be made when the first vaccination appointment is scheduled.
  • CVS's appointment system is standalone and separate from the waitlist registration being used in Virginia.
  • Those without online access can contact CVS Customer Service at (800) 746-7287.
  • There is no cost with insurance or through federal program for the uninsured.
The CVS partnership is part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination. Through this program, Pharmacy companies receive the vaccines directly from the federal government. These vaccines are in addition to existing vaccination programs in the Commonwealth and will provide 26,000 more vaccines to Virginians. You can read the full Virginia Department of Health news article here.
PWC Vaccination Updates
PWC Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Brian Misner provided the following update on vaccinations at this weeks BOCS meeting. There was a significant amount of information shared. Additionally, the Virginia Department of Health and the Prince William Health District has also provided updates. This information has been captured below under snapshots and details.
Snapshots
PWC Vaccination Data
According to the Virginia Department of Health vaccination dashboard for PWC updated on February 12:
  • 43,393 vaccine doses have been administered.
  • 8,851 people are fully vaccinated with two doses.
  • Rate of doses administered per 100,000 of the population is 9,226.
Vaccination Phase Progress
  • The Prince William Health District has nearly completed vaccinations for Phase 1a.
  • Due to the number of people in Virginia in Phase 1b, and the amount of vaccine coming from the federal government, it will likely be March or April, before everyone in Phase 1b in the Commonwealth, who is eligible and willing to be vaccinated, is vaccinated.
Details
All the information below is exclusive of CVS's vaccination doses.
Doses Received
Total first and second doses received in PWC as of February 6:
  • Is 58,300.
  • Over 28,000 of these were sent by the Commonwealth directly to hospitals and other providers.

Of the 58,300 total doses, as of February 6, Prince William Health District has received:
  • 8,775 Pfizer doses, all of which were transferred to PWC School teacher and staff for their vaccination events (issue 51).
  • 20,650 Moderna doses, of these 15,090 have been administered by Prince William Health District or transferred to partners.
Vaccine Inventory and Vaccination Capacity
Vaccine inventory:
  • Shipments are received weekly on Monday or Tuesday.
  • Doses on-hand as of February 6 were 5,560.
  • A shipment of 3,600 was received on February 8, which increased the total inventory to 9,160.

The Prince William Health District total clinic capacity for week of February 8 as of 4:00 pm:
  • Was 5,160.
  • Those slots have been filled and checked to ensure none are left untaken.

There is a difference between 9,100 vaccines and 5,160 vaccination capacity for the week of February 8 because:
  • Shipments are received on Monday or Tuesday, so there needs to be a reserve of vaccinations for those days in the following week.
  • Some are second doses which have to wait until the time designated for them to be administered.
  • There is the need to maintain a buffer amount.
Call Center
  • Have added full Library staffing (issue 50); over 40 individual call takers online.
  • Currently booking first doses and second doses that are due within the next 7 days.
  • The Prince William Health District (PWHD) advised this week that the call center is currently handling more than 2,000 calls a day.
Second Doses
Concerning second doses:
  • The Commonwealth began sending Moderna second doses on January 18.
  • Second doses cannot be reallocated to first doses.
Long-term Plans
Prince William Health District clinics long-term plans include:
  • Two large-capacity clinics (East and West).
  • Clinics for week of 2/15 currently being finalized.
COVID-19 News
New Exposure Notification Option
COVIDWISE Express
A new option to get COVID-19 exposure notifications
We have featured COVIDWISE, Virginia's official COVID-19 exposure notifications app, in several past issues. While everyone is encouraged to download the COVIDWISE app, there is a new option to get notified of potential exposure to COVID-19. COVIDWISE Express, launched by the Virginia Department of Health last week, works solely on iPhones that have not installed the COVIDWISE app. Available in both English and Spanish, COVIDWISE express anonymously sends and receives exposure notifications and has more than 504,000 users in Virginia.
How to Enable COVIDWISE Express
  1. Go to your settings, scroll down and look for Exposure Notifications. Depending on when you last updated your software, you may need to select Notifications first and then look for Exposure Notifications.
  2. Select Turn On Exposure Notifications and then select continue.
  3. Select United States from the drop down Country or Region list and then select Virginia from the drop down State or Region list.
  4. Select Agree to Virginia Department of Health Terms.
  5. Select Turn On from the conformation pop-up.
PWC COVID-19 Updates
In addition to the vaccine update in the previous section, PWC Emergency Management Coordinator Brian Misner also provided the following update on PWC COVID-19 positivity rates and testing sites at the BOCS meeting.
Positivity Rates
  • 7-day average is 11.1%.
  • Continues to be a downward trend.
  • All spread mitigation measures need to be maintained to continue lowering the rate.
Testing
  • Mobile testing site locations per week have been reduced from 11 to 7.
  • The change is a result of a 60% decrease in demand over the last month, along with weather impacts on staff and logistics.
  • Each mobile location site is in operation once per week.
  • The same number of 200 test kits per day are available, but currently this amount of tests is not routinely being requested.
  • The situation is being closely monitored and will be adjusted if needed.
PWC's COVID-19 testing webpage provides current information on testing locations and times. The PWC Twitter Account provides daily updates on closures and capacity.
Helpful Vaccine and COVID-19 Resources
Virginia Department of Health
Prince William Health District
  • The Prince William Health District (PWHD) website
  • The PWHD COVID-19 Call Center Information Line: (703) 872-7759 operating Monday through Sunday from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
  • Email: PWHDEPR@vdh.virginia.gov
Veterans
BOCS
Tuesday, February 16
at 2:00 pm and at 7:30 pm

For Public Comment Time options, visit 
SpeakUp! Prince William.
Remote speakers must sign-up by
5:00 pm on Monday, February 15.
In-person speakers can sign up at the meeting.
Christopher E. Martino, our County Executive, will provide a Proposed Budget presentation during the 7:30 pm meeting detailing proposed funding for county services in Fiscal Year 2022.
County News
Glass Recycling in PWC
You may have seen this picture on Chair Wheeler's Facebook page recently. It is part of a new PWC glass-only recycling program. You can find these special purple bins at:
  • Prince William County Landfill at 14811 Dumfries Rd. in Manassas
  • Balls Ford Road Compost Facility at 13000 Balls Ford Rd. in Manassas
  • Dr. A.J. Ferlazzo Building at 15941 Donald Curtis Dr. in Woodbridge
  • James S. Long Regional Park at 4603 James Madison Hwy in Haymarket
How To Participate
  • Empty and rinse all glass containers and place in purple bins.
  • You do not need to sort by color.
  • Do not put plastic bags, light bulbs, or other type of glass (dishes, cookware, window glass, etc.) in the bin.

Please recycle whenever you can, but if you are unable to put your glass in one of these bins, place it the regular trash in Prince William
County to avoid contaminating recycling.
Entertaining Options
See the Hylton's 2021 Spring Programming in their brief video.
Need an enjoyable and even uplifting, distraction for all the news and updates? The Hylton Performing Arts Center Spring #HyltonAtHome series could be the answer! Already underway, the virtual schedule has something for everyone. There are also bringing back Hylton On The Hill (issue 33) and will be announcing the lineup of performers soon.
A Local Shines at the Super Bowl
The Today Show's article declares he 'steals the show'. The Washington Post's article touts his performance went viral. Read on to learn more about the who they are talking about and what he did?

The who is WaWa, an acclaimed Hip Hop Recording Artist hailing from the landscapes of the DC / MD / VA area. The what is performing American Sign language at Sunday's Super Bowl for the National Anthem alongside Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan, as well as H.E.R.'s America the Beautiful. Yes performed not interpreted - because WaWa is a performance artist. A true trail-blazer, he refers to himself as "a Rapper who happens to be Deaf."

According to the Washington Post's article, WaWa practiced in front of his bathroom mirror for weeks before the performance. He shared with them, “This takes a lot of time and you want to make sure you’re understood, so playing with various ways to interpret a song is warranted!”

See WaWa's Super Bowl performance in this video on his Instagram account.
The Story Behind the Story
While WaWa's performances Sunday are worthy of all the praise they have received, his inspiring journey to becoming a 'Dip Hop' performance artist is even better! Be sure to check it out in this short video. If you want to know more about what his is doing now, found out on his website.
An Important Piece of History
In our last issue we shared many of the offerings the county and state had to honor Black History Month. There is also an ongoing special effort that is vital to the Black History of PWC, The Settlement Recordation Project.

The Settlement was established by formerly enslaved people. You may see The Settlement on various maps even though its boundaries have never been identified. Only the formerly enslaved people who established it know its story: a community that coalesced with the start of land ownership after the Civil War and thrived through the last quarter of the twentieth century.
According to oral histories conducted during the summer of 2018, the center of The Settlement has been, and remains, the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and its congregation. Mount Pleasant has an incredible history of its own, which was a feature article in issue 33.
The oral histories were from research completed in 2018 by Amanda Lim Patton as a student intern from the University of Virginia. Her The Settlement Oral History Project is a cornerstone for the Recordation Project.

The Settlement Recordation Project is intended to record remaining elements of this community and tell its history from immediately after the Civil War to now. The BOCS allocated funds to help with the effort.
State News
Improving Success for Persons of Color
Virginia receives grant for postsecondary education
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) was awarded a grant of $725,000 from Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation. The grant will support ongoing efforts in the Commonwealth to improve postsecondary success for students of color. Governor Ralph Northam has set a target of increasing educational achievement for students of color by 5 percentage points by 2024 and making Virginia the best-educated state in the nation by 2030 with 70% of working-age adults earning a degree or credential.
George Mason University, which has a campus in PWC, will receive $105,000 from the grant. The remainder of the grant funding is detailed below:
  • Virginia Commonwealth University $105,000
  • Old Dominion University $105,000
  • Norfolk State University $105,000
  • Patrick Henry Community College $105,000
  • Reynolds Community College $105,000
  • Virginia Community College System 45,000
  • SCHEV $50,000
“By supporting increased attainment for Virginia’s African American and Hispanic populations and maintaining an ongoing commitment to equity in Virginia’s higher education community, we expect significant improvements for students of color across the Commonwealth and models of effective equity-minded practices that can be shared nationwide.”
Danette Howard
Senior Vice President and Chief Policy Officer
Lumina Foundation
Ann B. Wheeler was elected Chair At-Large of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors during the 2019 General Election and assumed office on January 1, 2020. Prince William County is located 25 miles south of Washington, D.C., and is the Commonwealth of Virginia’s second-most populous county with approximately 470,000 residents.