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Prince Edward County is introducing a new online resource aimed to help better inform county residents and connect them to the COVID-19 vaccine, as it becomes available. This new resource is known as VaccinatePrinceEdward.org.

It is a one-page website that is bringing together all of the key information to empower county residents in their vaccination efforts, a Tuesday, Feb. 2, county press release stated. Prince Edward County is encouraging local residents to use the site as a tool as they make vaccination plans.

Helping explain the motivation behind creating the website, the release noted that COVID infection rates remain high locally, and vaccination is critical to putting the pandemic behind everyone. Many Prince Edward County citizens are expressing frustration with the process and confusion over when, how and where in the area they can receive the vaccine. 

“We often think about the pandemic as something happening nationally or globally, but health is something that truly happens locally,” Prince Edward County Administrator Doug Stanley said. “Our community has to work together to combat infection, and the most effective strategy we have right now is to successfully vaccinate as many citizens as we can, as quickly as we can. VaccinatePrinceEdward.org is designed to make that happen by providing our residents the information they need.”

The VaccinatePrinceEdward.org site will help break down complex information, including priority groups and who to contact to schedule vaccination appointments. Visitors to the site will also be able to sign up for email alerts to stay informed of updated information from the county. 

The site was created and will be updated with information provided in partnership with the Piedmont Health District.

The site is part of a larger communications effort by the county to ensure that all residents have access to the information they need to make health decisions related to COVID. The social media campaign #VACCINATEPRINCEEDWARD was launched on Facebook in January. The county resource page is a continuation of that effort.

Nationwide, vaccination programs have been less effective than initially planned. Locally, the health district is receiving only about 1,200 or a quarter of the 5,000 vaccines it has requested per week. Another challenge to the vaccination roll-out has been the recent surge in COVID cases. As a result, more public health resources must take a treatment posture rather than being focused on the vaccine. 

“We recognize that our health providers are working hard to manage both the recent surge in COVID cases, as well as the roll out of the vaccination effort,” Stanley said. “We are working closely with the health department and Centra Southside Community Hospital so that this site can carry some of the communications burden for them and serve our residents quickly and efficiently with new information as it becomes available.”