Free community testing for COVID-19 continues.

The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations:

• Thursday, Sept. 15 & Sept. 22, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. - Fulton Neighborhood Resource Center, 1519 Williamsburg Road.

• Wednesday, Sept. 21, 8 to 10 a.m. - East Henrico Recreation Center, 1440 N. Laburnum Ave.

Call the Richmond and Henrico COVID-19 Hotline at (804) 205-3501 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for more information on testing sites, or go online at vax.rchd.com.

The Virginia Department of Health also has a list of COVID- 19 testing locations around the state at www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/covid-19-testing/covid-19-testing-sites.

Want a COVID-19 vaccine or booster shot?

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

• Thursday, Sept. 15 & Sept. 22, 1 to 4 p.m. - Richmond Henrico Health District, 400 E. Cary St., Pfizer for ages 6 months and older, Moderna for ages 6 months to 5 years old and ages 18 years and older, appointments encouraged.

• Wednesday, Sept. 21, 1 to 4 p.m. - Henrico Health District West Headquarters, 8600 Dixon Powers Drive, Pfizer for ages 6 months and older, Moderna for ages 6 months to 5 years old and ages 18 years and older, 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 being shipped across the United States following approval on the federal level weeks earlier. The new Pfizer booster is approved for those age 12 and up, while the new Moderna booster is for those aged 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.

New COVID-19 cases in Virginia dropped 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 fell by five percent.

Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover are still at medium levels of community COVID-19. A total of 1,683 new cases of COVID-19 were reported statewide Wednesday for the 24-hour period, contributing to an overall state total of 2,066,675 cases in Virginia since the pandemic’s outbreak. As of Wednesday, there have been 454,714 hospitalizations and 21,646 deaths statewide. The state’s seven-day positivity rate dropped to 17.7 percent on Wednesday. Last week, the positivity rate was 19.5 percent.

On Wednesday, state health officials reported that 72.5 percent of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated, while 82.6 percent have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

State data also showed that over 3.7 million people in Virginia have received booster shots or third doses of the vaccine.

Among ages 5 to 11 in Virginia, 335,862 have received their first shots as of Wednesday, accounting for 46.4 percent of the age group in the state, while 292,596 children, or 40.4 percent, are fully vaccinated and 49,724 children have received a third vaccine dose or booster, making up 6.9 percent of that age group.

On Wednesday, 44,726 children from the ages of zero to four have received the first doses, making up 9.8 percent of the population in Virginia, while 29,119 are fully vaccinated, or 6.4 percent of the population. As of Wednesday, fewer than 172,980 cases, 1,032 hospitalizations and 15 deaths have been recorded among children in the state.

State data also shows that African-Americans comprised 22.1 percent of cases statewide and 22.9 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 11.2 percent of cases and 4.9 percent of deaths.