Statewide COVID vaccine registration site launched

The Virginia Department of Health launched its COVID-19 vaccine registration system Tuesday, available at vaccinate.virginia.gov. A phone hotline will open Wednesday, allowing Virginians who don’t have reliable internet access to register for the vaccine.

The site comes after local health districts had set up local sites for residents to register for vaccines, which are currently available to people age 65 and older, as well as others in high-priority groups such as teachers, medical responders, transportation and grocery store workers. Those local registration sites — with the exception of the Fairfax Health Department, which is maintaining its own system — are now closed, although VDH officials say that people on local health department waiting lists do not need to re-register on the new statewide site.

“Data migration is continuing throughout the week and it may take several days for your name to appear in the centralized system,” VDH reports. “Everyone who has previously registered is still on the list, and their status will not be affected.”

Virginians age 65 and older who want to register for a vaccine dose available through CVS pharmacies must still register for an appointment through CVS’ national appointment system because of technological limits.

VDH anticipates high traffic on the new registration site Tuesday and encouraged anyone who isn’t able to enter their information to try again later. On the site, there are a series of questions seeking the following information: name, address, type of residence (including long-term care facilities), type of job (including professions at higher risk), underlying health conditions, race, age and ethnicity. English and Spanish are both available.

Registrants can select automated updates by phone, email or text that will occur weekly as long as they are on the list to be vaccinated; they can also check their status at vaccinate.virginia.gov and click “Check the List” at the top of the page. VDH says that migration of information from local health districts is still taking place Tuesday and that information may not yet be available on the site.

Although about half of Virginia’s population is now eligible for vaccination, demand for doses far outstrips supply. The state is receiving about 140,000 doses per week from the federal government, and as of Tuesday, 1,047,780 people have received at least one dose of the two-shot vaccine, or 12.3% of the population.

Gov. Ralph Northam will provide an update Wednesday on the new site and the VDH hotline, which will be manned by a 700-person call center, according to earlier reports.

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