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COVID-19 free testing

4/15/2021, 6 p.m.
Free community testing for COVID-19 continues.

Free community testing for COVID-19 continues.

The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations:

Thursday, April 15, 1 to 3 p.m., Hotchkiss Field Community Center, 701 E. Brookland Park Blvd. in North Side.

Thursday, April 22, 2 to 4 p.m., Eastern Henrico Health Department, 1400 N. Laburnum Ave., Eastern Henrico. Drive-thru testing.

Appointments are encouraged by calling the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by registering online at https://bit.ly/RHHDCOVID.

Testing will be offered while test supplies last.

The Virginia Department of Health also has a list of COVID- 19 testing locations around the state at www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/covid-19-testing/covid-19-testing-sites/.

Want a COVID-19 vaccine?

Seniors ages 65 and older who live in Richmond or Henrico County can call the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts’ COVID-19 hotline — (804) 205-3501 — from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to schedule a vaccine appointment.

Others who want a vaccine should contact the statewide COVID-19 Vaccination Pre-Registration System at vaccinate.virginia.gov or by calling 877-VAX-IN-VA, or (877) 829-4682.

The statewide call center is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week to help people pre-register by phone or to answer questions about the vaccine. The call center has English- and Spanish-speaking agents and a call-back service to help people in more than 100 other languages.

Additionally, TTY service is available to help people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Despite a nationwide halt in the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine as federal health officials investigate side effects, the United States remains on track to have half of its adult population vaccinated by the end of the week, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The nation also is getting closer to President Biden’s goal of 200 million doses of the vaccine administered by his first 100 days in office.

Locally, health districts in Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield, and the surrounding counties have opened vaccination eligibility to anyone age 16 and older. Health officials marked the occasion April 9, with the newly eligible set up with appointments beginning this week.

Nearly 5 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in Virginia as of Wednesday, according to state health data, with 1.89 million people fully vaccinated or 22.2 percent of the population. Data show that 37.5 percent of the state’s population has been vaccinated with at least one dose.

Still, the number of positive cases of the coronavirus continues to grow. State officials reported 640,211 cases of COVID-19 statewide on Wednesday, along with 27,397 hospitalizations and 10,510 deaths. Virginia’s seven-day positivity rate is 6.1 percent. Last week, it was 6.2 percent.

According to state data, African-Americans comprised 22 percent of cases statewide and 24.8 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 16.4 percent of cases and 6.5 percent of deaths.