Woodbridge vaccination site to close as emergency mask order to sunset

The massive vaccination clinic in Woodbridge will close today, leaving many in Prince William County needed to travel to the Manassas area to get their coronavirus shot.

A vaccine clinic at the former Gander Mountain store, located at 14041 Worth Avenue, will close its doors for the last at 5:30 p.m. today. Since then, the clinic opened in March and, since then, the rate of those getting the coronavirus vaccine has fallen.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam this week announced the state had achieved a goal set by President Joseph Biden, with at least 70% of all state residents receiving at least one dose of the vaccine before July 4, 2021.

Meanwhile, in Prince William County, at least 52% of residents have had at least one dose of the vaccine. A total of 44% of residents are fully vaccinated, according to Brian Misner, the county’s emergency management coordinator.

While the Gander Mountain site will close, a vaccination clinic at Manassas Mall, located at 8300 Sudley Road near Manassas, will remain open. “We believe we have sufficient capacity at the Manassas Mall site,” added Misner.

In addition to the mass vaccination site, area doctors will now also be given doses in “smaller quantities,” said Prince William County Executive Christopher Martino. “Hopefully, [the process of getting a coronavirus shot] will be more like the flu vaccine every year,” said Martino.

An emergency declaration from Gov. Ralph Northam enacted last year at the pandemic’s start will expire June 30. It will end an allowance to wear a mask in public, something that Virginia law prohibits under regular circumstances.

Martino and officials in at least two other jurisdictions are defiant of the law. “If folks want to continue to wear a mask, they may do so,” said Marino. “If they are not vaccinated, they should wear a mask.”

Northam announced he would call to order the General Assembly in August to have legislators hash out how to spend the state’s latest influx of federal coronavirus cash. Legislators will most likely also take up the facemask law, added Marino.

For the latest information on where to get the shot in Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park, check the health department’s blog.

A total of 505 people in the Prince William County region died from complications from the coronavirus. The region’s health department reported nearly 46,000 cases of the disease since March 2020.