This installment of the newsletter is a little different. I have been slowly moving most of my pandemic coverage to one weekly show, and I wanted to make sure I did one on the one year anniversary of the first episode of the Charlottesville Quarantine Report. With all meetings going online, it was suddenly fairly easy to bring in sound and then cut it up. Four months later, I launched this newsletter and have been slowly building up my ability to bring you information.
Most installments of the podcast double as newsletters, because I tend to write anything out anyway. This time, though, I want to get moving on to processing the next newsletter.
So, this is one I’m going to encourage you to listen to if you want the information. Most of the material has been published elsewhere, but I wanted to bring it all together in a sonic form. What follows in this newsletter is an edited version of my script to try to give you a hint of what you’ll hear.
The first installment of the Charlottesville Quarantine Report featured sound I could find online, and for first time, I recorded a press conference from the governor, a Facebook live event from Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker, and a remote town hall meeting with Delegate Sally Hudson.
The second installment was published less than 24 hours after the first one, and covered one of the last meetings where Charlottesville City Council met in person.
The third one was produced, followed by another, and another and another. On April 7, I produced the 17th installment, which featured a suggestion from Governor Northam that we begin to wear masks. By the 36th episode on May 28, 2020, that was an order and a component on a gradual loosening of some of the initial restrictions.
In producing the quarantine report, and a radio version that aired on a now-defunct station, my appetite for community journalism reached the point where I decided to strike out on my own, and I launched this newsletter and other platforms yet to be determined.
But the point of this installment is not just to wax nostalgic. The vast majority of this show is from audio from the past week. If you listen, you’ll hear audio from Governor Ralph Northam’s March 9 update on the state of the pandemic. Over 20 percent of all Virginians have had at least one dose of a vaccine, and the one-shot Johnson and Johnson version is in distribution. Let’s hear some of Northam’s reflections. We may not be on the other side yet, but we’ve come a long way in the past year.
For the past few months, the UVA Health System has held a weekly press briefing that has given local reporters a chance to ask questions about the pandemic response. You’ll also hear some of March 12 briefing.
A big change between March 2020 and March 2021 is a new president. Joe Biden addressed the nation on March 11. You’ll hear parts of that, including a bold declaration.
“I’m announcing that I will direct all states, tribes, and territories to make all adults, people 18 and over, eligible to be vaccinated no later than May,” Biden said.
But can Virginia make it? Dr. Danny Avula is the person appointed by Governor Northam to coordinate vaccine distribution in Virginia. He gave his own press briefing on March 12 and sounded a confident tone.
“As we look at the supply and the pace and the demand here in Virginia, we really think that we will easily meet that May 1 marker, and potentially even outpace it for a couple of weeks,” Avula said.
As of today, March 16, 2021, one in five Virginians has received a first dose. Over a million Virginians are fully vaccinated. The current seven-day average for vaccinations is 52,898 a day. Avula said the pace is allowing the Virginia Department of Health to work through the existing eligibility categories.
“We will get through our 1B demand by mid-April, and in some parts of that state that is going to be sooner,” Dr. Avula said. “We really are going to allow different parts of the state much like we did with the 1A to 1B transition, different parts of the state will move to 1C and to 2 at their own pace depending on the unique demographics.”
What about the Blue Ridge Health District? They’re holding a press briefing tomorrow to talk about the issue and I’ll bring that information to you in a further installment of this Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter.
If you made it this far, another program note. The full audio from the March 10, 2021 Fry’s Spring Neighborhood Association candidates forum is posted at InfoCville. (listen)
March 16, 2021: Charlottesville Quarantine Report, Episode 56