To the Fairfax County Community,
I want to start with a few updates regarding vaccine operations. As you may be aware, CVS will begin offering vaccinations to eligible populations through a new federal program beginning Friday. To start there will only be one location in Fairfax County. Appointments are limited and for now their scheduled slots are already filled. This program was not created in partnership with our Health Department and thus will use its own scheduling system that will not select people from Fairfax County’s existing waitlist.
If you have already registered to get a vaccine appointment from Fairfax County and are able to get one at CVS or from another provider first, please email [email protected] and let us know so you can be removed from the County’s waitlist. You can read more about the program here.
In addition, some registration and dashboard updates that are upcoming:
- A public-facing online vaccine and registration data dashboard. The information will likely include the registration date that we are now scheduling appointments for, the number of people remaining on our waitlist, the number of appointments we have offered, how many doses Fairfax County receives from VDH each week, how many doses are distributed each week, and the total number of doses administered by the Health Department.
- An online vaccine registration confirmation form.
- An online self-cancelation system for residents who want to be removed from our waitlist.
- Weekly emails that will be sent every Sunday to people on our waitlist to remind them that they are still registered.
- Data cleanup on our waitlist that includes removing approximately 25,000 names from our queue due to duplicate registrations.
These updates were announced at yesterday's Board of Supervisors meeting and will be in place in the next two weeks, with the confirmation system up and running by Friday.
See below for other highlights from our meeting. The agenda is available for your review here.
For COVID-19 resources mentioned in past newsletters, visit my website. If you have a friend who would like to sign up for this newsletter, they can do so here.
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What happened? After 40 years of public service, Fairfax County Park Authority Executive Director Kirk Kincannon will retire this week. Yesterday, the Board formally recognized and thanked him for his work for Fairfax County.
Some accomplishments? During Kirk's tenure, the Park Authority:
- Was reaccredited by the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies – meeting all 151 national standards.
- Adopted its first agency-wide Master Plan that sets the course for the future.
- Adopted the One Fairfax ethos and began to develop and implement an agency based on creation of a more equitable park service with increased access for all.
- Earned the agency’s fourth Gold Medal from the National Recreation and Park Association, which recognizes outstanding park system management.
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County Policies for the LGBTQ Community |
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What happened? Yesterday, I directed staff to review County policies to see how they can be improved for LGBTQ people.
What's the background? The Human Rights Campaign releases a yearly scorecard to gauge how inclusive a jurisdiction's laws and policies are of LGBTQ people. This year, we had a score of 88 out of 100, a significant increase from 2019's score of 53.
Anything else? We need to make sure policies in Fairfax County are equitable for all residents, including our LGBTQ community. I’m proud of the big jump we took this year on our Human Rights Campaign scorecard, however, I am confident that a perfect score is attainable. While equality can’t be summarized in a set of checkmarks, we must strive to always progress.
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Economic Recovery Framework Update |
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Economic Recovery Framework? The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority and the County’s Department of Economic Initiatives has worked with a consulting firm to evaluate the impact of the pandemic and to prepare an economic recovery plan to help guide and expedite our recovery efforts. The Framework outlines recommendations for fostering a just and resilient economic recovery. The Board received an update in November with data and analysis demonstrating the economic impacts on businesses as well as the disproportionate impacts on minority and low-income communities.
What's new? The Board approved the following motions yesterday to:
- Direct staff to develop recommendations for targeted relief and recovery grants and/or programs to support businesses and non-profits identified in the Framework as having been disproportionally impacted by COVID-19.
- Bring these recommendations to the Board on March 16, 2021 for consideration.
- Evaluate funding for these programs.
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From Governmental Center to Affordable Housing |
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What happened? The Board authorized a public hearing to consider the transfer of existing Board-owned property to the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA).
Where? The property is located at the Franconia Governmental Center which is slated to be relocated to Kingstowne. When it is relocated, the property will be vacant.
For what? If the property conveyance is approved following the public hearing, the FCRHA will evaluate the possibility of constructing housing for individuals with low to moderate incomes.
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Solar Panels: The Board approved a public hearing to lease County-owned properties to Sigora Solar for the installation, operation, and maintenance of solar panels on 22 County properties. The leases for the first tranche of County-owned sites were approved in October 2021. You can read more on page 14 of the Board package.
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Youth Mental Health: National data illustrates that COVID-19 has significantly impacted the mental health of our youth. I asked that staff make available current quantitative and qualitative data on mental health for the youth population to help prepare the County in supporting students in this pandemic and the future return to school.
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Common Health Questions:
- People with COVID-19 have a wide range of symptoms reported - ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure. You might experience:
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Follow mitigation practices:
- Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer if that isn't an option (especially when in public places)
- Cough and sneeze into your sleeve
- Don't touch your face
- Social distance
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Wear a mask (Which is required in Virginia.)
- What it means to social distance, self-isolate, and quarantine.
- If interacting with others outside of your household, being outside is safer than inside. You can make your home safer by increasing ventilation and filtration.
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The New York Times (access to COVID-19 content is free) speaks with infectious disease experts, aerosol scientists, and microbiologists to find out if COVID-19 can land on your clothing, hair, shoes, and mail.
COVID-19 Resources:
- Fairfax County Health Department
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To view the number of cases in Fairfax County this page is updated at noon daily.
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Visit the County site on COVID-19, Health Department Website, and see their FAQs.
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To view multilingual health materials visit the County's Language Portal.
- Sign up for text message alerts: text FFXCOVID to 888777. Para inscribirse, textear FFXCOVIDESP a 888777.
- Call the Health Department from 9am-7pm weekdays and 9:30am-5pm on weekends: 703-267-3511
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Email: [email protected]. This account will be staffed Monday through Friday, 8am-8pm.
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Inova has a helpful FAQ.
Vaccine Resources:
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We recognize that we are in very trying times, but I hope this newsletter helps you track the progress we are making.
As I often say, we are truly lucky to live in Fairfax County where we have the resources to overcome challenges and a community who rises to the occasion.
Jeffrey C. McKay
Chairman
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