Mass Vaccination Clinic Scheduled For Saturday In Arlington

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington County is holding a one-day mass vaccination clinic on Saturday for eligible priority groups at the new Lubber Run Community Center.

A total of 1,500 doses of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine are expected to be administered at the clinic. Vaccinations are available to Arlington residents aged 65 and older as well as for residents 18-64 with underlying medical conditions.

The 1,500-dose shipment is on its way to Arlington County from the Virginia Department of Health, the county said. The federal government provided Virginia with 69,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after it received emergency use authorization on Saturday from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“This single-dose vaccine may be desirable for people who want to complete their immunization schedule quickly, do not want to return for a second dose, or have difficulty returning for a second dose,” Dr. Reuben Varghese, Arlington County Public Health director, said Tuesday in a statement. “This also gives us an opportunity to pilot operations at a new vaccination site for potential future use in vaccine administration.”

For the Saturday event, all vaccinations will be administered by appointment-only. There will be no walk-up vaccinations available for Saturday's clinic.

Arlington County will notify residents who qualify for the vaccine and invite them to participate in Saturday’s vaccination event based on their place in the queue.

The allotment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for Saturday’s clinic is in addition to the 3,000 first doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines allocated to Arlington County Public Health on a weekly basis from the Virginia Department of Health. Arlington County said it is currently averaging successful administration of about 90 percent of its available first-dose supply each week.

“We want everyone to know that our goal is to get as many vaccines distributed each week as possible. This pilot site reinforces our ability to scale our vaccine rollout quickly and efficiently as new supply becomes available,” Matt deFerranti, chair of the Arlington County Board, said Tuesday in a statement.

The Lubber Run Community Center is located at 300 N. Park Drive. The vaccination clinic will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

Arlington County residents who have not already done so can pre-register for the vaccine on the Vaccinate Virginia website, or at 1-800-VAX-in-VA. Pre-registration allows the county to provide notification to eligible individuals to make vaccination appointments as supply becomes available.