HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - Thousands of COVID-19 vaccines have arrived in Hampton Roads, with the first doses being given out to healthcare workers and then eventually more vulnerable populations.
“It means that we get to start hopefully working towards that herd immunity, which will take time, but for us, we are super excited,” said Mary Morin, the Vice President of Clinical Effectiveness at Sentara.
Experts have said the vaccine won’t be available to the general public for several months.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam said he hopes to have the majority of those in the state vaccinated by this summer.
The arrival of the first vaccines have many people wondering: When they can get one?
“The thing that was on my mind in our household was, 'When is it going to be our turn?' And it seemed like nobody was able to give me a real straight answer,” said Stuart A. Thompson, a writer and editor for the Opinion section of the New York Times.
He worked with several others to create a new tool to help people understand where they could possibly fall in line for getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
The opinion article is called, “Find Your Place in the Vaccine Line."
The New York Times worked with Surgo Foundation and Ariadne Labs to create the online tool, according to the article.
You type in your age; the county where you live; if you are a health care worker, essential worker, first responder, teacher or none of these; and if you have any COVID-related health risks.
It then tells you approximately how many people would be in front of you in line for a vaccine in the country, your state and your county/region.
But Thompson stressed that this is just a proposal and an estimate.
Lawmakers and policymakers will determine the exact rules about the order of who will get the COVID-19 vaccine and when.
“This is not a hard number. It’s not a line at the deli counter and you get your number and you’re waiting for it to be called,” said Thompson.
He said we are at the beginning of this process and there are many different variables that will go into what actually unfolds over the next few months.
Click here to read Thompson's article.
