Virginia deploying text, robocall campaign to promote COVID-19 boosters in Hampton Roads

Several thousand Hampton Roads residents eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot will receive a text or robocall alerting them of their eligibility in coming days.

The campaign is part of an initiative by the Virginia Department of Health to get people boosted. And it’s not a scam, Cindy Clayton, a state health department spokesperson said.

“The important thing for folks to know is that if they receive one of these, it’s really from VDH and is not a hoax,” Clayton said in an email.

The VDH launched the text and call program in December in the Richmond-Henrico health district area. Now, the department is sending the alerts in Norfolk, Virginia Beach and the Peninsula. Residents in the Rappahannock, Roanoke-Alleghany and Prince William health districts will also receive the texts and calls.

Health officials are hoping “that this could be just the thing that these folks need to go ahead and get boosted,” said Megan Shearin, a spokesperson for the Norfolk Health Department.

In Norfolk, 21.7% of adults have gotten the COVID-19 booster, and 30.7% of Virginia Beach adults have gotten the third shot, according to VDH data.

The VDH text message will notify people their state health records indicate they are eligible for a booster shot and direct them to visit https://vase.vdh.virginia.gov or to call 877-829-4682 to make an appointment for the shot.

Anyone fully vaccinated and over 18 should get a COVID-19 booster shot at least five months after completing their first two doses, according to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Teens ages 12 to 17 should also get the booster, but they are only approved to get the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine booster, according to the CDC.

More information about booster shots and when to get them is available on the CDC’s website, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/booster-shot.html.

Ali Sullivan, 757-677-1974, ali.sullivan@virginiamedia.com