Special education troubles continue for Va.

Continued from A1 parents and children secure due process in contesting local decisions involving the individual education plans and that their complaints are resolved in a timely fashion.

She also noted that some VDOE regulations governing special education conflict with federal law. She also raised concern about the state education agency’s oversight of local school divisions’ special education programs after determining that the practices in at least five still unnamed school divisions violate federal rules and regulation.

Ms. Williams stated that members of her staff would be in Virginia in August or September to conduct another review to determine how well reforms of the programs the state enacted since 2020 are working and whether the state has begun installing procedures to ensure “the appropriate and effective investigation of complaints” and the speedy resolution of those are found to be accurate.

Free COVID-19 vaccines

Continued from A1 but appointments encouraged.

Wednesday, March 22, 10 a.m. to noon - Henrico West Health District, 8600 Dixon Powers Dr., JYNNEOS shots; 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. - Primary Moderna shots for age 6 months to 5 years old and 12 years and older, 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.

Thursday, March 23, 2 to 4 p.m. - Cary Street, 400 E. Cary St., JYNNEOS 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 (1-877-8294682).

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 14 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 14 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 8 were ranked at medium as of last week.

As of Tuesday, Richmond reported a total of 61,462 cases, 1,308 hospitalizations and 553 deaths; Henrico County, 91,669 cases, 1,759 hospitalizations and 1,083 deaths; Chesterfield County, 100,249 cases, 1,771 hospitalizations and 876 deaths; and Hanover County, 29,120 cases, 943 hospitalizations and 348 deaths.

Compiled by George Copeland Jr.

The Richmond Branch NAACP’s James E. Minor III, like Mayor Stoney, has stressed the need for proper gun safety within the community. He also has spoken of the need for more programs and spaces where youths can go to safely interact with their peers and grow. He said the Richmond NAACP is in the midst of trying to further efforts in this area when it comes to options available in the city.

“We need more things for our youths to do, period,” Mr. Minor said. “I think we’re moving in the right direction when it comes to after-school programs or recreation for our youths, but we need to expedite it.”

Mental health and economic opportunity also are cited as major concerns and contributing factors to these mortality rates by the researchers, particularly when it comes to underserved and marginalized communities of color.

Mr. Minor, for his part, suggested that greater access to mental health counselors could help alleviate this issue. He acknowledged that progress on this front is not as clear, but saw greater attention on this matter, like other solutions to the recent rise in deaths, as a critical need to prevent further tragedy.

“I don’t know what the whole plan looks like when it comes to that, but we need to be really thinking about that,” Mr. Minor said. “I know that we’ve done some things to address mental health, but we can do more as a city, as a region and as a state.”