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A second mass vaccination clinic to be held at the Prince Edward-Farmville Youth Association Gymnasium (PEFYA) will help inoculate approximately 1,200 Piedmont Health District residents this week.

COVID-19 rates in the health district continue to drop as more residents receive vaccinations.

Sunday, March 7, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) issued a release stating Walmart, in cooperation with VDH’s Piedmont Health District, would be conducting closed COVID-19 vaccination clinics Wednesday, March 10, and Thursday, March 11 at an off-site location at 2750 Layne Street, Farmville.

The clinics are specifically for pre-registered individuals in Phase 1b. The release states Walmart is coordinating with Piedmont Health District to call individuals on the pre-registration list and schedule appointments for vaccination. Residents began to be contacted for the event Monday, March 8.

The event, which will serve residents from the various counties in the Piedmont Health District, will see approximately 1,200 doses of the Pfizer vaccine administered to citizens. Walmart will return in three weeks to administer secondary doses Wednesday, March 31, and Thursday, April 1.

Dr. Sulola Adekoya, VDH community health services medical director and acting health director for the Piedmont Health District, said Monday the district’s vaccine allocation is increasing each week.

According to Adekoya, last week Piedmont received 1,400 primary doses and 800 secondary doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The health district also received 1,170 doses of the Pfizer vaccine last week as well as 1,000 doses of the newly-approved Johnson and Johnson vaccine which will be used for mass vaccination events.

That increase in vaccine allotment means the percentage of vaccinated people in the health district’s population continues to climb.

Monday, March 8, 15.1% of Prince Edward residents had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 8.4% of residents were fully vaccinated.

The number of Buckingham County citizens with at least one dose on Monday was 17.2%. Approximately 8% of residents are fully vaccinated.

Cumberland County has put a shot in the arm of at least 15.1% of residents and has fully inoculated approximately 6.5% of residents.

In Charlotte County, 13.6% of residents have had at least one dose of the vaccine, and 7% have received all of their doses.

For Lunenburg County, 17.1% of the population has received at least one dose, and 7.7% of residents are now fully inoculated.

With higher vaccine rates, state and local cases for the most part are continuing to drop.

On Monday, VDH was reporting a considerable low of daily reported cases in Virginia at 892 cases. That’s down from 1,124 cases the week prior. Such a low daily case number has not been seen in the commonwealth since October 19, 2020.

The state’s seven-day moving average is continuing to drop steadily, sitting Monday morning at 1,345 average cases over a seven-day period compared to 1,701 cases the week prior.

Most counties in the health district saw numbers continue to decline this week.

In Prince Edward County, coronavirus cases for the week of Monday, March 1, to Monday, March 8, totaled 15, and only six COVID-19 cases were reported in Buckingham County this week.

Cumberland County saw 11 new cases of the virus this week. Charlotte County saw nine cases.

Lunenburg County did not see a decline in cases this week. In fact, while other counties have experienced decreasing case averages for upwards of 40 days, Lunenburg on Monday was on a 16-day increase in cases. From March 1 to March 8, Lunenburg saw 27 new coronavirus cases.

While it is unclear why the county is experiencing such a large uptick, the increase does not appear to be stemming from the county prison. Lunenburg Correctional Center reported no active coronavirus cases in offender or staff populations per the Virginia Department of Corrections website as of Monday. Dillwyn Correctional Center and Buckingham Correctional Center were also not displaying any active cases among offenders.

The decrease in cases was also evident among colleges and universities on Monday. Longwood University in Farmville was showing only one active case of the virus among its students and staff Monday, March 8. Hampden-Sydney College was reporting five active cases with 16 individuals in quarantine.