BAMA WORKS Assists in local vaccination CLinic and planning

The Charlottesville area's health district will start vaccinating frontline medical workers next week.

The Blue Ridge Health District, formerly known as the Thomas Jefferson Health District, received doses of the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19 the week of Christmas and vaccinated some of its staff Monday.

Starting this coming Monday, district staff will begin vaccinating area EMS providers, dialysis center staff and Region Ten Community Services Board residential facility staff, according to a news release.

The first doses of the vaccine will go to health care personnel and staff and residents at long-term care facilities, as determined by the Virginia Department of Health and a federal advisory committee. After this first priority group has received the vaccine, doses will be open to additional essential workers, but exact categories haven’t been decided yet.

To assist with vaccination plans and to accommodate social distancing, the health district will set up a building in the parking lot of the former Kmart at the intersection of Hydraulic Road and U.S. 29. They’ll start with at least three clinics per week at the Kmart site and plan to increase the frequency, depending on staffing and vaccine availability.

The Kmart location was established with the help of Red Light Management and the Bama Works Fund.