Patricia Sylvia receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination clinic at the Richmond Raceway Complex in January. She is being treated for cancer and needed to be vaccinated to continue chemotherapy. (Photo by Jay Paul)
After a year during which the region nearly ground to a halt under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic, local leaders are looking forward. Resources in the spheres of public health, economic development and education have been stretched in previously unthinkable ways, and the lessons learned by those who made the system work will be invaluable in 2021, as the region embarks on the road to recovery.
Public Health
Perhaps the biggest question in the months ahead concerns the availability and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines. By the first week of January, the Virginia Department of Health had received nearly half a million doses, with plans to order 100,000 new vaccine doses per week until further notice.
On Jan. 6, Gov. Ralph Northam set an initial goal of vaccinating 25,000 Virginians each day when supply allows, though the effort got off to a slow start with the Centers for Disease Control ranking Virginia 46th among states for the percentage of doses administered that same week.
A prioritization plan released by the VDH designated three distinct groups for vaccination priority: phase 1A, which makes the vaccine available to health care workers and those in long-term care facilities; phase 1B, which will cover essential workers including K-12 teachers and staff, child care workers, adults age 65 and older, and people living in correctional facilities, homeless shelters and migrant labor camps; and phase 1C, which will include other essential workers, and people age 16-64 with certain medical conditions or disabilities that increase their risk of severe illness from COVID-19. An online tool is available at vdh.virginia.gov/covid-19-vaccine to help residents determine their eligibility.
“It’s difficult to nail down a specific timeline, but we’re working to vaccinate our 1A population as soon as possible,” says Christy Gray, director of the Division of Immunization at VDH. By mid-February, Virginia was still immunizing those in phase 1B and the Department of Health had just launched a centralized statewide pre-registration system to streamline the process.
Virginia’s vaccine unit was set up in June 2020 and comprises the Division of Pharmacy Services and the Offices of Emergency Preparedness, Health Equity and Community Health Services. Richmond and Henrico Health Director Danny Avula was tapped by Northam in January to lead the state’s COVID-19 vaccination effort.
Gray explains that vaccines are purchased directly from Pfizer and Moderna through a portal set up by the Centers for Disease Control. Once the vaccines arrive in Virginia, they must be safely stored and delivered to providers, including hospitals, clinics, doctors’ offices, care facilities and pharmacies.
Joe Gilbert, Virginia Department of Health deputy commissioner for government and regulatory affairs (Photo by Jay Paul)
Joe Gilbert, the deputy commissioner for governmental and regulatory affairs at VDH, says the biggest lesson learned in 2020 is the importance of preparation. “We did significant planning in the past several years around pandemic flu, including vaccine distribution,” he says. “It’s not exactly what we’re dealing with here, but we’ve got a good planning apparatus within the agency. It will make vaccine distribution easier, and constant preparation will help prevent something like this from happening again.”
The Economy
Anthony Romanello, executive director of the Economic Development Authority in Henrico, says that many of the region’s businesses are still struggling, but he is encouraged by positive economic news as well.
“There’s still a lot of hurt out there,” he says, though he notes that “we’re seeing growth in industrial and data center sectors. All indications are that 2021 will be a bright year for the region. We just need to help our hospitality businesses in the meantime.”
That help will continue to appear in many forms. Regional EDAs worked closely with Virginia Community Capital, a financial institution dedicated to local economic growth, to provide loans to small businesses that could not access Paycheck Protection Program loans from the federal government. The organizations also developed a program for restaurants that will continue outdoor dining through the winter, granting $1,000 to each one to purchase heaters. Another cog in the machine of economic recovery is the newly minted Small Business Development Center, which will provide microgrants and other resources to metro Richmond businesses throughout the coming year.
Anthony Romanello, Henrico County Economic Development Authority executive director (Photo by Ash Daniel)
A few areas of uncertainty remain. “The world of retail was already changing before the pandemic, and we’re going to be watching how that develops in 2021,” Romanello says. “We’re also watching the impact of working from home. Many companies are coming back, but others are paring the amount of office space they have.
“We’re not out of the woods yet, but it looks like this summer, most Americans will be vaccinated. Our focus now is things that we can do to bridge the gap until group activity resumes.”
Education
Education has been — at least temporarily — completely transformed by the pandemic. Public school systems all closed their doors to in-person learning when the pandemic struck in March 2020. As of February, Hanover and Chesterfield were conducting in-person classes for some students, with full virtual options also available. Chesterfield plans to have middle and high school students who choose to return back in the classroom by March 9. Henrico is scheduled to begin its gradual return to in-person learning on Feb. 22 for students in pre-K through second grade, with all students who choose to return doing so by March 8. Richmond Public Schools have elected to remain closed for the remainder of the 2021 school year.
Gov. Northam in January said he is talking to school superintendents and state education department officials about the possibility of year-round school next year to help mitigate the learning deficits caused by the pandemic. Locally, Richmond Public Schools’ Superintendent Jason Kamras has expressed support for the idea, with the school board expected to vote on it this spring.
“We have all learned to think differently about school.” —Beth Teigen, deputy superintendent and chief of staff, Henrico County Public Schools
In 2020, legislation passed the Virginia General Assembly establishing a virtual education online platform where teachers across the state could access lesson plans. Now, state Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, a Republican from the 12th District who co-sponsored the bill, says the time is right to double down on education reform at the state level.
“There will be a laser focus on children in Virginia this year,” Dunnavant says. “Kids who are not in school are in greater jeopardy for non-COVID-related risks. Our rates of failure have increased. Mental health crises have increased.
“We need an individual assessment of every child in Virginia so that we can develop lesson plans. When we go back to school, classrooms won’t be on the same page — probably, they never were, but there will be more disparity now.”
Prior to the 2020-21 school year, the Virginia Department of Education and Gov. Northam worked with Virtual Virginia, a preexisting virtual education platform, to expand their instructional resources. Money allotted by the federal CARES Act was used to ensure that every teacher in the state had access to this program. The program allows teachers and classroom specialists to freely modify content to meet the needs of students and families.
Beth Teigen, deputy superintendent and chief of staff at Henrico County Public Schools, is helping to oversee the complex school year in her county. “It’s been a fluid process,” she says. “The toughest decisions resulted from the conflict between the need to ensure every student and their family has access to a robust and supportive educational experience and the need to provide employees with a safe working environment.”
Every Henrico student from pre-K to 12th grade has access to an iPad, a Chromebook or a laptop necessary for distance learning. All meetings between staff have moved online, and preparation for a full virtual option for the 2021-22 school year is underway. HCPS also expects to meet in person full time for those who wish to do so during 2021-22, with an expected start date of Wednesday, Sept. 8.
“We have all learned to think differently about school,” Teigen says. “Teachers, parents, and students — we’re all thinking outside the box about teaching and learning.”
