Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Pivots COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy

June 21, 2021

Media Contact: Dr. Colin Greene, health director, Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District –AskRRHD@vdh.virginia.gov

Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Pivots COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy

Vaccines Widely Available in the Community and at Health Department Walk-In Clinics

(Culpeper, VA.) – The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District (RRHD) will close the doors on the Germanna Community College mass vaccination site on June 24.  Our small but mighty team gave more than 51,000 doses of COVID vaccine in the last six months — about 1/3 of all the vaccine given in our health district. We could not have done this without the help of our amazing Medical Reserve Corps volunteers who gave more than 7,500 hours of volunteer time to support our vaccine operations. We also would like to thank Germanna Community College for graciously hosting our main vaccination site, and being so supportive of our efforts.

“This does not mean that we no longer need to vaccinate our community,” said Dr. Colin Greene, acting health director.  “We aren’t seeing the numbers we once did at the Germanna site, and are shifting our strategy to mobile outreach events.  We will be taking vaccine to where our residents live, work, play and pray.”

COVID-19 vaccinations are also now widely available at pharmacies, grocery stores, and local doctors’ offices.  Residents may go online to vaccinate.virginia.gov or vaccines.gov and enter their zip code to find locations.  In addition, residents may walk in at their local health department in the Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District.

Residents may walk-in (no appointment necessary) to receive free COVID-19 vaccines on the following dates:

Orange Health Department – Every Wednesday from 8-11 a.m. & 1-3 p.m.
450 N Madison Road, Orange, VA

Madison Health Department – Every Wednesday from 8-11 a.m. & 1-3 p.m.
1480 N Main St. Suite A, Madison, VA

Rappahannock Health Department – 1st & 3rd Friday 8-11 a.m. & 1-3 p.m.
338A Gay St., Washington, VA

Culpeper Health Department– 2nd & 4th Friday 8-11 a.m. & 1-3 p.m.
640 Laurel St., Culpeper, VA

Fauquier Health Department – 1st & 3rd Friday 8-11 a.m. & 1-3 p.m.
330 Hospital Drive, Warrenton, VA

Those that prefer a health department appointment, please call your local office for assistance.

More than 84.2% of those over the age of 65 and 60.9% of those over the age of 18 have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the health district.

“Some people are asking, ‘why should I get vaccinated now? The case numbers are going down; it’s summer’,” Dr. Greene said. “People are still getting sick, and people are still dying.  The cases and deaths across the country are among those that are not vaccinated.  In the fall, when everybody gets back together, the virus may pop up, and we have to think about variants.  We encourage everyone to get their COVID-19 vaccination.”

For more information on COVID-19 in Virginia, visit www.vdh.virginia.gov/covid-19-vaccine/.

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