IW offering free COVID-19 vaccines and testing Sept. 9-10

Published 9:04 pm Thursday, September 2, 2021

Isle of Wight County’s Department of Emergency Services will host free COVID-19 testing and vaccination clinics Sept. 9-10 in partnership with the Virginia Department of Health and Bayview Physicians Group.

The Sept. 9 clinic will be at Main Street Baptist Church, 517 Main St., Smithfield, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Sept. 10 clinic will be at the Windsor Town Center, 23361 Courthouse Highway, Windsor, also from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The vaccine administered at both clinics will be the one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which received full approval for those 16 and up from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August. It is still under an Emergency Use Authorization for ages 12 to 15.

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Just over 50% of Isle of Wight County’s population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to Virginia Department of Health data. Nearly every Virginia locality, including Isle of Wight, is currently reporting high transmission of COVID-19 — a surge largely attributed to the spread of the more contagious delta variant.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control defines high transmission as 100 or more cases per 100,000 residents or a positivity rate of 10% or higher. Isle of Wight, according to VDH data, reported 247.9 cases per 100,000 and a positivity rate of 12.9% for the week ending Aug. 28.

Reuters reports a United Kingdom study published in May found the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine 88% effective against symptomatic disease from the delta variant two weeks after the second dose. Of the roughly 4.7 million Virginians who are fully vaccinated, 10,959 or 0.2% have developed COVID-19, according to VDH data.