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

• Thursday, Mar. 23, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. - Fulton Neighborhood Resource Center, 1519 Williamsburg Road.

• Friday, Mar. 24, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Southside Women, Infant and Children Office, 509 East 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, March 23, 2 to 4 p.m. - Cary Street, 400 E. Cary St., JYNNEOS shots, walk-ups welcome but appointments encouraged.

• Thursday, March 30, 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, 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 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 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 25 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 dropped 18 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, while 10 were ranked at medium as of last week.

A total of 261 new cases of COVID-19 were reported statewide Tuesday for the 24-hour period, contributing to an overall state total of 2,295,335 cases in Virginia since the pandemic’s outbreak. As of Tuesday, there have been 459,067 hospitalizations and 23,688 deaths reported statewide.

State data available at the time also shows that African- Americans comprised 22.1 percent of cases statewide and 21.8 percent of deaths for which ethnic and racial data is available, while Latinos made up 10 percent of cases and 3.8 percent of deaths.

As of Tuesday, Richmond reported a total of 61,368 cases, 1,316 hospitalizations and 553 deaths; Henrico County, 91,949 cases, 1,765 hospitalizations and 1,082 deaths; Chesterfield County, 100,336 cases, 1,772 hospitalizations and 875 deaths; and Hanover County, 29,147 cases, 944 hospitalizations and 348 deaths.

Compiled by George Copeland Jr..