RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia vaccine czar Dr. Danny Avula said he was working to make sure all Virginia health districts were into Phase 2 vaccinations on April 18.
Under Phase 2, everyone, 16 and older, who lives or works in Virginia will be eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
In order to make sure every district meets that deadline, they're shipping more vaccines to cities, counties, and towns still working their way through vaccinating the Phase 1b and Phase 1c populations.
Some localities reported they would be in Phase 2 by next week.
Avula said there have been talks about requiring proof of residency in order to combat vaccine tourism and people going to Phase 2 districts in order to jump the line.
He also said while Virginia wasn't seeing the COVID case increase that is trending nationally, the rate of decrease in Virginia has plateaued and is no longer going down.
"We do want to move forward with this news cautiously," Dr. Avula said. "But I do think that as we look to the summer if we can see [vaccinations] increasing and a decreasing trend of cases, I imagine things will continue to open up."
Avula said next week's shipment of over 200,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine remain en route to Virginia.