Hello Team DC Health,

This is the COVID-19 Recap newsletter which is  distributed bi-weekly on Fridays.

Within each issue, you will find highlights from the Health and Medical Branch, links to recent Mayor Bowser situational updates and coronavirus (COVID-19) data.

Highlights include: 

• Since March 30, the COVID-19 Health and Medical Branch has continued to support COVID-19 diagnostic sampling in the District, as of February 10, the District has supported 446,030 samples. The number of samples has increased by 20,233 since last reported on January 27.
• As of February 6, the District has administered 67,688 doses of COVID vaccine. The District received an additional 11,475 does which will be administered to those eligible in the Phase 1b, Tier 2 group defined on the  coronavirus.dc.gov/vaccine website.
• This week, the District introduced three new COVID vaccine initiatives aimed to build trust and bring expertise to high priority communities:

• “Faith in the Vaccine” works with the Leadership Council for Healthy Communities and the Black Coalition against COVID to further engage the faith-based community with the goal of spreading the word about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine and supporting residents in getting vaccinated.
• DC Health partnered with the Medical Society of DC to create the COVID-19 Clinician Champion Program (DC CCCP) which partners DC physicians available to spread the word about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine at community meetings and events based on their experience working with targeted groups (e.g. African-American residents, Latinx residents, adults over age 65 living in Wards 5, 7 and 8, and adults with a chronic medical conditions, faith-based institutions, LGBTQ residents, etc.).
• The Senior Buddy Program leverages the community engagement staff from the Mayor’s Office of Community Relations to knock on doors and schedule appointments for seniors in Ward 8.