Official: Virginia will meet Biden’s May 1 vaccine goal

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia officials said Friday that the state expects to meet or possibly exceed President Joe Biden’s commitment to make all adults eligible for COVID-19 vaccines by May 1.

“As we look at the supply and the pace and the demand here in Virginia we really think we will easily meet that May 1 marker and potentially even outpace it by a couple of weeks,” state vaccine coordinator Dr. Danny Avula said in a briefing with reporters.

Avula also said the May 1 goal won’t require the state to rethink its distribution strategy.

“It hasn’t changed anything for us,” he said.

The state has administered over 2.5 million doses of vaccine, with 19.5% of the population having received at least one dose, according to health department data.

All parts of the state have opened up vaccine eligibility to a second phase of people that includes frontline essential workers and people 16-64 with an underlying medical condition.

Avula said he thinks that second phase, referred to as 1b, can be completed by mid-April, or sooner in some parts of the state. Health districts would then move into a third phase of eligibility that will cover other essential workers at their own pace, he said.

Jeffrey Zients, the White House’s coronavirus coordinator, told reporters Friday that May 1 is an “absolute deadline” and that the nation will have enough supply between the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines to give shots to all adults by the end of that month.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. PHOTO AP

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