Over 1.7M COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Have Been Given In Virginia

VIRGINIA — Over the past couple of weeks, the vaccination process has gotten smoother for senior citizens and other high-priority groups. On Feb. 24, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said 1.7 million Virginians are now registered for the vaccine after the previous week's launch of a statewide registration form and hotline.

Last week, the Biden administration announced an increase in vaccine allocations to states. That has brought Virginia's latest weekly allocation from 130,000 doses to about 161,000 doses. Winter weather had delayed the weekly shipment last week, but that shipment and the current week's shipment are arriving.

As of Thursday, VDH reported 1,709,828 vaccine doses have been administered. There are 1,166,434 people with at least one dose, or 13.7 percent of the population. A total of 543,394 are fully vaccinated, or 6 percent of the population.

The seven-day average of daily COVID-19 cases is 1,869, which is the lowest average since before Thanksgiving. There were 2,036 new cases reported on Thursday, including 516 in Northern Virginia, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

Current hospitalizations have been trending down since mid-January and stand at 1,488. That's comparable to the level last seen in late November. The total includes 303 people in the intensive care units and 183 on ventilators. Northern Virginia has 253 current patients, including 24 on ventilators and 37 in the ICU.

According to Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association data, ICU occupancy among all hospital patients is at 80 percent, and ventilator use was at 31 percent.

VDH has reported record highs of new deaths in recent days as it continues to process 2021 death certificates related to a post-holiday case surge. VDH notes that deaths by date reported do not reflect the dates of deaths. On Thursday, 156 new deaths were reported. These dates don't reflect the date of death; VDH also keeps data on deaths by the date on death certificates.

Virginia's seven-day average of positive tests stands at 7.7 percent as of Feb. 22. The average has been trending down since reaching a winter peak of 17.4 percent on Jan. 3. Northern Virginia's average is 7.2 percent, down from a winter peak of 16.6 percent on Jan. 2.

The average number of daily PCR testing encounters is trending down since peaking at 35,027 on Jan. 14. The latest average is 20,679.

Below are the latest coronavirus data updates for our coverage area from Wednesday to Thursday:

• Alexandria: 10,258 cases, 506 hospitalizations, 112 deaths; increase of 30 cases and two deaths
• Arlington County: 13,020 cases, 764 hospitalizations, 217 deaths; increase of 46 cases and two deaths
• Fairfax County: 65,970 cases, 3,484 hospitalizations, 889 deaths; increase of 252 cases, three hospitalizations and nine deaths
• Fairfax City: 486 cases, 37 hospitalizations, 13 deaths; increase of four cases and one hospitalization
• Falls Church: 342 cases, 20 hospitalizations, seven deaths; no changes
• Loudoun County: 22,873 cases, 849 hospitalizations, 208 deaths; increase of 57 cases, seven hospitalizations and one death
• Manassas: 3,985 cases, 161 hospitalizations, 36 deaths; increase of 14 cases
• Manassas Park: 1,120 cases, 66 hospitalizations, nine deaths; increase of four cases and one death
• Prince William County: 39,029 cases, 1,375 hospitalizations, 375 deaths; increase of 109 cases, two hospitalizations and seven deaths
• Fredericksburg: 1,757 cases, 93 hospitalizations, 19 deaths; increase of 10 cases
• Spotsylvania County: 8,221 cases, 280 hospitalizations, 96 deaths; increase of 31 cases and one death
• Stafford County: 9,448 cases, 309 hospitalizations, 65 deaths; increase of 30 cases