VCC Spring 2021

V irginia C apitol C onnections , S pring 2021 5 It is hard to believe that as I sit in reflection it has been just over a year since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the Commonwealth of Virginia was announced—March 7, 2020 to be exact. One year and a month or so later, the Commonwealth has seen over 650,000 cases of COVID-19 and lost 10,700 precious Virginians and loved ones. Deliberating over concerns about whether our hospitals would be overwhelmed with patients and what preemptive measures we could put in place, and caught in a balancing act between overreaction and under response we ran the gamut of options, we considered building large temporary hospitals, did we have enough ICU beds or ventilators? And the list goes on. We knew we needed more personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing supplies and were well aware of the challenges we would face to acquire them. The pandemic posed a threat to the sustainability of the health care system not only in Virginia but across the country, but certainly many practicing clinicians as well. Providers, already grappling with financial constraints, could not see patients who were willing to come in due to testing and PPE shortages. I knew that this pandemic would lead to tough decisions across the board for the provider community, and impact their patients in many ways as well—and still, Virginia’s medical community persevered. In the year since then, we have learned much more about the virus and how to keep ourselves safe. Simple but necessary actions such as proper hand-washing, social distancing, and staying home when feeling sick, coupled with tools such as face masks—and of course now the COVID-19 vaccine—all proved to be very important ways to help contain the virus, and statistically speaking it has worked. We have seen, and continue to see, a decrease in cases and hospitalizations as we see an increase in vaccinations. Individuals, communities, businesses, and healthcare organizations have all played a critical role in slowing the spread of COVID-19. I am grateful for everyone’s help to stop the spread and these efforts and sacrifices do not go unnoticed. As part of the next phase in what has been a whirlwind effort to vaccinate Virginia, this month anyone 16 years and older is now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. We have administered over 6.5 million doses of the vaccine in Virginia. More than half of all adults have received at least one dose and one in three adults are fully vaccinated. Virginia is administering vaccine doses as quickly as they are provided by the federal government. However, the virus is still present in Virginia and as we continue to study and identify variants - I must remind everyone to stay vigilant. Continue to take precautions like wearing a mask, staying six feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces until we know more about how vaccines will affect the spread of COVID-19 and will respond to variants. Spring is in bloom in the Commonwealth and I encourage vaccinated Virginians to take advantage of it. Get out and enjoy the biking and hiking trails that our beautiful Virginia parks have to offer, take a trip to the beach, or have a safely distanced picnic with family or friends who have also been vaccinated. Revel in the fact that per the CDC’s latest guidance fully vaccinated individuals no longer have to wear a mask outdoors, in specified low-risk situations. I am immensely proud of how far we have come, and there is certainly light at the end of the tunnel. And we could not have gotten here without our partner organizations and the work that they do on behalf of Virginians. As you know, there is much left to do. This pandemic has taught us some powerful lessons—proving the need to strengthen our health system here in the Commonwealth, ensuring that our public health workforce is adequately supported, revealing to all of us how profound our inequities are, and even further underscored the urgency to address them in more deliberate and insightful ways. We must continue to combat disinformation and provide the citizens of the Commonwealth with the most accurate, up to date, and transparent information possible to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. With these lessons, we have the opportunity to continually learn and create a health system that works for everyone. It has been my privilege to serve as the Secretary of Health and Human Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia and help lead the charge during this difficult time. While I want Virginians to be encouraged and proud of what we have accomplished in our battle with COVID-19, I echo an even stronger sentiment that we must work to stay safe, stay healthy and certainly, stay vigilant, Virginia. Daniel Carey, MD, MHCM, is Secretary of Health and Human Resources . Stay Vigilant, Virginia: Lessons Learned from a Pandemic By Daniel Carey, MD, MHCM meeting. Lobbyists and advocates are talking in committee rooms, while waiting for the floor session to end, in the hallways between meeting rooms. There are confabs during meetings. Information is gleaned from secretaries, aides, clerks and staff attorneys. The in-person conversations we have are different, too, because we can gauge reactions and break in with clarifying questions. Nuance is usually lost in emails or texts. Not everyone has access to lawmakers’ personal or preferred phone numbers or email addresses. Lawmakers can ignore messages and calls during an in-person session as easily as during an all-virtual one, but it’s very hard to avoid each other face to face. I haven’t talked to a single lobbyist or advocate—from the professional, full-time lobbyist to folks like me where lobbying is but one part of my job—who preferred the virtual session. Lobbying and advocacy is about relationships and relationships need human-to- human interaction to grow and thrive. I am sure all of my colleagues at Transparency Virginia would much prefer to get back to counting votes and tracking meeting notice in 2022 than to have to endure another virtual session. But whatever comes our way, TVa will be there, as it has been for the past seven sessions, to shine a light on the Virginia legislative process. Megan Rhyne is the Executive Director for Virginia Coalition for Open Government. Continued from previous page • past editions online • subscribe • advertise WWW. VCCQM . ORG V V