The Richmond and Henrico health districts are offering free walk-up COVID-19 and flu vaccines at the following location:

• Thursday, Dec. 22, 9 to 11 a.m. - Cary Street, 400 E. Cary St., Primary Moderna shots for age 6 months to 5 years old and age 12 and older, bivalent booster for age 6 and older, Primary Pfizer shots for age 6 months and older and bivalent boosters for age 5 and older, Novavax primary shots for age 12 and older and boosters for age 18 and older and flu shots, walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.

People can schedule an appointment online at vase.vdh.virginia.gov, vaccinate.virginia.gov or vax.rchd.com, or by calling (804) 205-3501 or (877) VAX-IN-VA (1-877-829- 4682).

VaccineFinder.org and vaccines.gov also allow people to find nearby pharmacies and clinics that offer the COVID-19 vaccine and booster.

Those who are getting a booster shot should bring their vaccine card to confirm the date and type of vaccine received.

RHHD also offers at-home vaccinations by calling (804) 205-3501 to schedule appointments.

New COVID-19 boosters, updated to better protect against the latest variants of the virus, are now available. The new Pfizer booster is approved for those age 12 and up, while the new Moderna booster is for those age 18 and older.

As with previous COVID-19 boosters, the new doses can only be received after an initial two vaccine shots, and those who qualify are instructed to wait at least two months after their second COVID-19 vaccine.

The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts are now offering bivalent Pfizer and Moderna boosters to children between the ages of 5 to 11 in clinics in the near future. Children in this age range will be eligible after at least two months since their last vaccine dose.

New COVID-19 cases in Virginia rose by 22 percent during the last week, according to the Virginia Department of Health, and data from the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association showed hospitalizations statewide increased by 13 percent since last Wednesday.

Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover are now at medium levels of community COVID-19. Eight localities in Virginia are ranked at high community COVID levels, while 60 were ranked at medium as of last week.

A total of 84 new cases of COVID-19 were reported statewide Wednesday for the 24-hour period, contributing to an overall state total of 2,182,604 cases in Virginia since the pandemic’s outbreak. As of Wednesday, there have been 456,989 hospitalizations and 22,610 deaths statewide. The state’s seven-day positivity rate rose to 16.1 percent on Wednesday, after reaching 13.4 percent last week.

On Tuesday, state health officials reported that nearly 18.1 million COVID-19 doses had been administered, with 73.6 percent of the state’s population fully vaccinated at the time. State data also showed that over 5 million people in Virginia have received booster shots or third doses of the vaccine.

Among ages 5 to 11 in Virginia, 341,477 have received their first shots as of Tuesday, accounting for 47.1 percent of the age group in the state, while 300,318 children, or 41.4 percent, are fully vaccinated. In this age group, 54,423 children have received a monovalent booster, making up 7.5 percent, while 31,277 have gotten a bivalent booster shot, accounting for 10.8 percent of this group.

As of Tuesday, 61,534 children from the ages of zero to four have received their first doses, making up 13.5 percent of the population in Virginia, while 47,490 are fully vaccinated, or 10.4 percent of the population. On Wednesday, fewer than 1,600,740 cases, 7,590 hospitalizations and 105 deaths were recorded among children in the state.

State data also shows that African-Americans comprised 18.6 percent of cases statewide and 18 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 9.3 percent of cases and 3.6 percent of deaths.

As of Wednesday, Richmond reported a total of 60,116 cases, 1,253 hospitalizations and 552 deaths; Henrico County, 84,878 cases, 1,681 hospitalizations and 1,045 deaths; Chesterfield County, 95,063 cases, 1,726 hospitalizations and 855 deaths; and Hanover County, 27,615 cases, 853 hospitalizations and 333 deaths.

Compiled by George Copeland Jr.