Free community testing for COVID-19 continues.

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

• Thursday, Dec. 8 & Dec. 15, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Southside Women, Infants and Children Office, 1519 Williamsburg Rd.; 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. - Fulton Neighborhood Resource Center, 1519 Williamsburg Rd.

• Wednesday, Dec. 14, 8 to 10 a.m. - Eastern Henrico Recreation Center, 1440 N. Laburnum Ave.

Call the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Monday through Friday for more information on testing sites, or go online at vax.rchd.com.

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 or booster shot?

The Richmond and Henrico health districts are offering free walk-up COVID-19 and flu vaccines at the following locations: • Thursday, Dec. 8, 1 to 3 p.m. - RRHA Old Brook Elderly

Building, 3900 Old Brook Circle, Bivalent Moderna shots for ages 6 months to 5 years old, Bivalent Pfizer shots for ages 12 and older, Flu shots; 4 to 6 p.m. - RRHA 4th Avenue Elderly Building, 1611 4th Ave., Primary and Bivalent Moderna shots for ages 6 months to 5 years old, ages 12 and older, Primary and Bivalent Pfizer shots for ages 6 months and older, Novavax primary shots for ages 12 and older and boosters for ages 18 and older and Flu shots, walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.

• Wednesday, Dec. 14, 10 a.m. to Noon - Henrico West Health Department, 8600 Dixon Powers Dr., JYNNEOS shots; 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. - Primary and Bivalent Moderna shots for ages 6 months to 5 years old, ages 18 and older, Primary and Bivalent Pfizer shots for ages 6 months and older, Novavax primary shots for ages 12 and older and boosters for ages 18 and older and Flu shots, walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.

People can schedule an appointment online at vase.vdh.virginia. gov, vaccinate.virginia.gov or vax.rchd.com, or by calling (804) 205-3501 or (877) VAX-IN-VA (1-877-829-4682).

VaccineFinder.org and vaccines.gov also allow people to find nearby pharmacies and clinics that offer the COVID-19 vaccine and booster.

Those who are getting a booster shot should bring their vaccine card to confirm the date and type of vaccine received.

RHHD also offers at-home vaccinations by calling (804) 205- 3501 to schedule appointments.

New COVID-19 boosters, updated to better protect against the latest variants of the virus, are now available. The new Pfizer booster is approved for those age 12 and up, while the new Moderna booster is for those age 18 and older.

As with previous COVID-19 boosters, the new doses can only be received after an initial two vaccine shots, and those who qualify are instructed to wait at least two months after their second COVID-19 vaccine.

The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts are now offering bivalent Pfizer and Moderna boosters to children between the ages of 5 to 11 in clinics in the near future. Children in this age range will be eligible after at least two months since their last vaccine dose.

New COVID-19 cases in Virginia rose by 56 percent during the last week, according to the Virginia Department of Health, and data from the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association showed hospitalizations statewide increased by 40 percent since last Wednesday.

Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover have shifted to medium levels of community COVID-19. Five localities in Virginia are ranked at high community COVID levels, while 27 were ranked at medium as of last week.

A total of 1,718 new cases of COVID-19 were reported statewide Wednesday for the 24-hour period, contributing to an overall state total of 2,159,648 cases in Virginia since the pandemic’s outbreak. As of Wednesday, there have been 456,650 hospitalizations and 22,504 deaths statewide. The state’s seven- day positivity rate rose to 11.7 percent on Wednesday, after reaching 9.6 percent last week.

On Monday, state health officials reported that over 17.9 million COVID-19 doses had been administered, with 73.5 percent of the state’s population fully vaccinated at the time. State data also showed that over 4.9 million people in Virginia have received booster shots or third doses of the vaccine.

Among ages 5 to 11 in Virginia, 340,862 have received their first shots as of Monday, accounting for 47 percent of the age group in the state, while 299,673 children, or 41.4 percent, are fully vaccinated. In this age group, 54,396 children have received a monovalent booster, making up 7.5 percent, while 26,600 have gotten a bivalent booster shot, accounting for 9.2 percent of this group.

As of Monday, 59,755 children from the ages of zero to four have received their first doses, making up 13.1 percent of the population in Virginia, while 45,577 are fully vaccinated, or 10 percent of the population. On Wednesday, fewer than 1,608,846 cases, 7,631 hospitalizations and 115 deaths were recorded among children in the state.

State data also shows that African-Americans comprised 18.6 percent of cases statewide and 18 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 9.3 percent of cases and 3.6 percent of deaths.

As of Wednesday, Richmond reported a total of 59,732 cases, 1,246 hospitalizations and 552 deaths; Henrico County, 83,793 cases, 1,671 hospitalizations and 1,040 deaths; Chesterfield County, 94,137 cases, 1,711 hospitalizations and 851 deaths; and Hanover County, 27,337 cases, 842 hospitalizations and 330 deaths.

Compiled by George Copeland Jr.