Winter Weather in United States, Virginia Impacts Vaccine Delivery – Second major winter storm to hit Commonwealth on Thursday into Friday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 18, 2021
Logan Anderson, VDH PIO, logan.anderson@vdh.virginia.gov

Winter Weather in United States, Virginia Impacts Vaccine Delivery
Second major winter storm to hit Commonwealth on Thursday into Friday

(RICHMOND, Va.) – Virginia is seeing delays in this week’s vaccine shipments because of severe winter weather in the Mid-Atlantic region and in the country.

Storms are bringing cold weather and precipitation to the region.  The Commonwealth will likely see a delay in the delivery of approximately 106,800 doses, due to distribution channels in the Midwest and elsewhere that are currently shut down.

Due to weather conditions in Virginia, multiple vaccination events scheduled for the next few days have already been postponed. If vaccination events are postponed due to weather or shipment delays, providers will reschedule these events and reach out to individuals with directions about updated appointments.

When the severe weather ends, VDH expects shipments to resume as normal.

The delays affect both the vaccine itself and ancillary supplies that come with each order.  The vaccine and ancillary supplies are produced in multiple locations throughout the country using several hub connections to deliver vaccines directly to providers. Two percent of Virginia’s providers are seeing delayed ancillary supply kits.

There also could be additional delays for orders VDH places this week due to severe weather that may cause additional distribution issues. Even if the roads are clear in Virginia, the fulfillment of orders and the movement of these vaccine and ancillary supplies may be delayed in other parts of the country.

VDH is distributing guidance to providers on how to determine the status of their vaccine and ancillary supply orders. VDH also is working closely with federal partners to determine the status of vaccine and ancillary kit orders and next steps to mitigate the delay and impact to Virginians.