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

• Thursday, April 27, 1 to 5 p.m. - Henrico Arms Apartments, 1664 Henrico Arms Place.

• Friday, April 28, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Southside Women, Infant and Children Office, 509 E. Southside Plaza.

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 vaccines for COVID-19 and more at the following locations:

• Thursday, April 27, 2 to 4 p.m. - Cary Street, 400 E. Cary St., Primary Moderna shots for age 6 months to 5 years old and bivalent boosters for age 6 years and older, Primary Pfizer shots for age 6 months and older, bivalent boosters for age 5 years and older, Novavax primary shots for age 12 and older, and boosters for age 18 and older, JYNNEOS shots and baby bivalent boosters. 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 aged 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.

The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts are now offering bivalent Pfizer and Moderna boosters to children between the ages of 5 and 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 fell by 11 percent during the last week, according to data from the Virginia Department of Health, while data from the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association showed hospitalizations statewide decreased by three percent since last week.

Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico County are at low levels of community COVID-19. No localities in Virginia are ranked at high community COVID levels, and none were ranked at medium as of last week.

A total of 105 new cases of COVID-19 were reported statewide Wednesday for the 24-hour period, contributing to an overall state total of 2,304,483 cases in Virginia since the pandemic’s outbreak. As of Wednesday, there have been 459,689 hospitalizations and 23,743 deaths reported statewide.

State data available at the time also shows that African-Americans comprised 21.8 percent of cases statewide and 21.5 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 9.86 percent of cases and 3.7 percent of deaths.

As of Tuesday, Richmond reported a total of 61,037 cases, 1,322 hospitalizations and 549 deaths; Henrico County, 92,948 cases, 1,787 hospitalizations and 1,088 deaths; Chesterfield County, 100,723 cases, 1,782 hospitalizations and 875 deaths; and Hanover County, 29,278 cases, 952 hospitalizations and 348 deaths.

Compiled by George Copeland Jr.