Kolotol: Free COVID-19 testing and vaccines

COVID-19 testing is available at various drug stores, clinics and urgent care centers throughout the area for people with and without health insurance. Several offer tests with no out-of-pocket costs.

A list of area COVID-19 testing sites is online at https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/richmond-city/richmond-and-henrico-area-covid-19-testing-sites/

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?

The Richmond and Henrico health districts are offering free walk-up COVID-19 vaccines at the following locations:

• Thursday, July 1, 8 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 6 p.m. — GRTC, 301 E. Belt Blvd.; 2 to 3 p.m. — Gilpin Resource Center, 436 Calhoun St., Moderna.

• Friday, July 2, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — Henrico West Clinic, 8600 Dixon Powers Drive, Pfizer; 1 to 3 p.m. — Charm School’s Study Hall South Side, 4930 Forest Hill Ave., Suite D; 5 to 7 p.m. — Dalia’s Dulceria, 7310 Staples Mill Road, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.

• Wednesday, July 7, 10 to 11:30 a.m. — Lafayette Gardens Apartments, 2219 Ruffin Road, Pfizer; 2 to 3 p.m. — Whitcomb Court Resource Center, 2106 Deforrest St., Moderna; and 3 to 6 p.m. — George Wythe High School, 4314 Crutchfield St., Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.

Children ages 12 to 15 may only receive the Pfizer vaccine.

Appointments are not required, but individuals can schedule an appointment online at vax.rchd.com or by calling (804) 205-3501.

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

More than 4.3 million people are fully vaccinated in Virginia, or 50.7 percent of the population, while 58.9 percent of the population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

This milestone comes as Gov. Ralph S. Northam lifts the State of Emergency Declaration in Virginia beginning July 1. It also comes as health officials across the nation are seeing a rise in the number of new COVID-19 cases from the Delta variant. Health officials have urged greater caution moving forward.

“It’s basically doubling every week,” Dr. Danny T.K. Avula, Virginia’s vaccine coordinator, said about the number of cases from the Delta variant during a news conference on Tuesday. He said he anticipates another surge of the virus in late summer or early fall due to the highly transmissible Delta variant.

“We are in a great place now,” Dr. Avula said. “We’re seeing some of the lowest rates of COVID than we have at any point during the pandemic, but this is not over.”

Late last week, officials at the World Health Organization encouraged people who are fully vaccinated to keep wearing masks and following safety protocols, while officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines in May stating that that fully vaccinated people could stop using masks and social distancing. The CDC clarified this point on Wednesday, stating that people should follow the guidance of their local health departments.

State officials reported 680,340 cases of COVID-19 statewide on Wednesday, along with 30,458 hospitalizations and 11,415 deaths. Virginia’s seven-day positivity rate is 1.6 percent. Last week, it was 1.5 percent.

According to state data, African-Americans comprised 22.4 percent of cases statewide and 25.1 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 16.1 percent of cases and 6.5 percent of deaths.