The COVID-19 vaccination program for 5-11 year olds is now underway in the Three Rivers Health District, using the Pfizer vaccine in medical offices and schools. No local vaccine clinics had been scheduled for young children as of Tuesday morning.
According to a press release from Three Rivers Health District Medical Director Dr. Richard Williams, the vaccine is 90.7 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 in children ages 5-11, whose immune response to the vaccine is comparable to that of individuals 16 to 25 years of age.
The vaccine is also safe, said Williams. It was studied in 3,100 5-11 year-olds with no serious side effects.
The flu vaccine is also now widely available, said Williams, and he urged everyone to get a flu shot, since flu season this year “is likely to be far more severe than we saw last year.” He said there is no problem getting both the flu vaccine and the COVID vaccine at the same time.
A flu clinic will be held from 3-5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 12, at Newington Baptist Church, 6169 Main Street, Gloucester.
COVID case rates
While COVID case numbers continue to improve, the virus continues to take people’s lives, with two Gloucester residents and two Mathews residents dying from it during the past week. This brings the total number of deaths in the two counties since the pandemic began to 78 and 24, respectively. Middlesex recorded no deaths over the past six days, leaving the total deaths from that county at 33.
Gloucester had 25 new cases of the virus during the past week, up a bit from last week’s 21 new cases, but still lower than during much of the pandemic. This brings the total number of cases in the county to 3,897 since March 2020. Mathews and Middlesex each added just three new cases, for totals of 898 and 951, respectively, in the two counties. There were no additional hospitalizations in the three localities, leaving the numbers at 92, 28, and 33, respectively.
Across the Three Rivers District, there were 103 new cases of the virus since last Wednesday, bringing the total to 15,539 since the pandemic began. There were two new hospitalizations, for a total of 558, and 11 new deaths recorded, for a total of 297.
Statewide, 7,697 people were diagnosed with COVID during the past week, for a total of 938,376 Virginians who have had the virus since March 2020. New hospitalizations came to 284, for a total of 39,250, and 173 people died, for a total of 14,225 Virginia lives lost to the deadly virus in 20 months’ time.