Name: FEMA relaxes pre-registration requirement for vaccination — just come on down to Military Circle site
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FEMA relaxes pre-registration requirement for vaccination — just come on down to Military Circle site

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Posted: Apr 8, 2021 / 07:52 PM EDTUpdated: Apr 9, 2021 / 07:35 AM EDTNORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The goal at the vaccination center run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency at Military Circle Mall is to administer 3,000 COVID-19 vaccine shots a day.But recently&nbsp;when the FEMA goal was coming up short, FEMA relaxed the policy requiring pre-registration.&nbsp;&nbsp;The new policy is that if there are vaccine doses available when you show up, you will get vaccinated — no pre-registration needed.Tim Smith is site manager for FEMA’S vaccination center. Meeting the&nbsp;3,000-shot&nbsp;goal is important, he said.“In&nbsp;order to&nbsp;get everyone&nbsp;vaccinated, we found out last week&nbsp;that walk-up&nbsp;up&nbsp;registration, if we have the&nbsp;vaccine, is the way to&nbsp;go,”&nbsp;he said.The best time to show up is after the morning rush around 10 a.m. to noon, or&nbsp;2-5 p.m.&nbsp;Marcus Orie&nbsp;just showed up on Thursday.“We&nbsp;actually called&nbsp;twice,&nbsp;and we were told we could&nbsp;walk&nbsp;right up and get the shot, or at least&nbsp;be put on a list, which is what I hoped for,”&nbsp;Orie said.10 On Your Side&nbsp;timed&nbsp;Orie to see how long it would take between entering the vaccination center and getting the vaccination. It was only 7.5&nbsp;minutes.&nbsp;Orie said he had issues with online registration, which has been tough for many.“People&nbsp;don’t know&nbsp;there are&nbsp;these services&nbsp;available,&nbsp;and they think they&nbsp;have to&nbsp;get&nbsp;online,&nbsp;and I could find no solution trying to register myself.&nbsp;Coming here is&nbsp;actually a&nbsp;blessing in&nbsp;disguise,” Orie said.Same thing for Jennifer Unger, her daughter Alexa and sister Robin.&nbsp;“Robin said hey&nbsp;there is a&nbsp;vaccination&nbsp;clinic&nbsp;and no&nbsp;appointment necessary.&nbsp;&nbsp;I’ve been looking&nbsp;for [the] vaccine all week in&nbsp;Chesapeake and&nbsp;haven’t&nbsp;been able to find one,”&nbsp;Unger said.FEMA&nbsp;picked Hampton Roads for its mass vaccination site because many are not&nbsp;getting vaccinated.Smith explained why.“Hampton Roads was picked because a&nbsp;large&nbsp;population&nbsp;in&nbsp;Hampton Roads&nbsp;has some&nbsp;hesitancy&nbsp;to get the&nbsp;vaccine, but I am here to tell&nbsp;you the&nbsp;vaccine is&nbsp;safe,”&nbsp;Smith said.After Orie got vaccinated he said he felt a wave of relief.“I feel like a&nbsp;weight&nbsp;just came&nbsp;off my shoulder, and I feel like I have a&nbsp;sense of accomplishment,”&nbsp;Orie said.The FEMA vaccination&nbsp;center will be open from 9-7 p.m. seven&nbsp;days a week for the next&nbsp;seven weeks.&nbsp;You do not need to pre-register.&nbsp;If the vaccine is still&nbsp;available,&nbsp;you will get a shot in the arm.&nbsp;&nbsp;There is also&nbsp;a profound sense&nbsp;of mission at the FEMA center.&nbsp;“This is one of the most&nbsp;rewarding&nbsp;things&nbsp;I’ve&nbsp;ever&nbsp;done in my life.&nbsp;I think every&nbsp;shot&nbsp;is a life saved,”&nbsp;Smith said.That is saying&nbsp;something,&nbsp;because Smith&nbsp;served 28 years&nbsp;in the&nbsp;U.S. Air&nbsp;Force with&nbsp;two tours in Hampton Roads.“So, again, people&nbsp;who want&nbsp;to get&nbsp;vaccinated&nbsp;can walk in and get an appointment when the vaccination is available.&nbsp;We can&nbsp;give it to them right away,”&nbsp;Smith said.Alongside Smith&nbsp;is&nbsp;Navy Cmdr.&nbsp;Greg Leveque and 135&nbsp;active-duty&nbsp;sailors&nbsp;from&nbsp;Little Creek&nbsp;and Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.&nbsp;Leveque is&nbsp;with Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron 4.“Our&nbsp;role&nbsp;in this is to act&nbsp;like the&nbsp;vaccinator&nbsp;and&nbsp;provide&nbsp;administrative&nbsp;support,”&nbsp;Leveque said.So far, there have been 15,000 shots into arms during the first week. That’s is&nbsp;an average&nbsp;of over&nbsp;2,000 a day, but far from the&nbsp;3,000-dose&nbsp;goal.“We&nbsp;ensure&nbsp;that all&nbsp;the&nbsp;patients&nbsp;that&nbsp;come&nbsp;here are taken care&nbsp;of.&nbsp;We hope they&nbsp;have a great journey as we try to get people vaccinated,”&nbsp;Leveque concluded.If you want to get the vaccine, you can still register to get on the state’s vaccination list at&nbsp;&nbsp;or call 1-877-VAX-IN VA (1-877-829-4682), 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. If you’re eligible, you’ll be contacted for an appointment.Thanks for signing up!Watch for us in your inbox.Subscribe Now✕× Close Ad

Posted: Apr 8, 2021 / 07:52 PM EDTUpdated: Apr 9, 2021 / 07:35 AM EDTNORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The goal at the vaccination center run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency at Military Circle Mall is to administer 3,000 COVID-19 vaccine shots a day.But recently&nbsp;when the FEMA goal was coming up short, FEMA relaxed the policy requiring pre-registration.&nbsp;&nbsp;The new policy is that if there are vaccine doses available when you show up, you will get vaccinated — no pre-registration needed.Tim Smith is site manager for FEMA’S vaccination center. Meeting the&nbsp;3,000-shot&nbsp;goal...

FEMA relaxes pre-registration requirement for vaccination — just come on down to Military Circle site

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