Released: March 12, 2021
Delaware County Council continues to advocate for more COVID-19 vaccines for Delaware County residents.
On March 7, County Council members and Commissioners, and state legislators representing Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties met virtually with Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam and other Wolf Administration officials regarding the state’s allocation of COVID-19 vaccine to these four Southeastern Pennsylvania counties.
On March 8, elected officials from the four-county region sent a letter to Acting Secretary Beam requesting the following actions be taken as quickly as possible:
1. Create a publicly available chart showing the amount of vaccine from all sources, including Federal partnerships, that has been delivered to each county each month and a description of the “County Index” that the Pennsylvania Department of Health is currently using to allocate doses to each county.
2. Explain how and when counties that are lagging in vaccine delivery will receive additional vaccines.
3. Explain how vaccine providers will be monitored going forward to ensure that no vaccine provider moves on to vaccinate 1B individuals (aside from the teachers and educational support personnel who are directly receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine) until all counties in the Commonwealth have received sufficient supply to vaccinate their 1A population.
On March 11, Delaware County Council joined Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, Senator Amanda Cappelletti, Senator John Kane, Senator Tim Kearney, Senator Anthony Williams, and State Representatives: Brian Kirkland, Craig Williams, Leanne Krueger, David Delloso, Mike Zabel, a representative from Margo Davidson’s office, Jennifer O'Mara, Chris Quinn and Regina Young to provide an update to Delaware County residents regarding efforts to increase the number of residents being vaccinated in Delaware County. Legislators joined together with a unified and bipartisan shared goal of calling on the state to allocate more vaccines to Delaware County and an equitable distribution of the vaccine.
On March 12, Governor Wolf announced targeted vaccination strategies, including completing Phase 1A vaccinations in all counties before some counties begin vaccinating people in Phase 1B, setting up mass vaccination clinics with regionally supplied plans to inform allocations, and vaccinating frontline workers.
The full announcement can be found here: www.delcopa.gov/publicrelations/releases/2021/pdf/GovWolf_TargetedVaccinationStrategies.pdf
“We are glad the Governor heard our call for more vaccines for all residents, including those in Delaware County,” said Councilman Kevin Madden. “We encourage the Governor to set up multiple vaccination sites throughout the county as opposed to just one mass site. Multiple sites will allow for a more equitable distribution of the vaccine to all residents, especially for our older residents and lower- income populations who may not be able to travel longer distances to be vaccinated.”
The County has secured locations, storage, and staffing in order to be ready to open additional vaccination sites when we receive an increased supply. The County has worked to form strong partnerships with partners including Aston Township, the City of Chester, Crozer Health, Keystone First, and Penn Medicine—and with the extremely dedicated and hard-working Medical Reserve Corps—and continues to form partnerships and recruit and train staff. The County has the ability to vaccinate 25,000 people per week.
Vaccination Sites:
Delaware County Government will be adding a fifth County-operated vaccination site. The County, in partnership with Crozer Health, will begin COVID-19 vaccinations at Springfield Hospital on Monday, March 15. The clinic will be operational Mondays through Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. by appointment only.
The County, in partnership with Keystone First and in collaboration with the City of Chester, opened the Keystone First Wellness Center in Chester on Feb. 25. And the County, in partnership with Penn Medicine, began administering the Pfizer vaccine on Feb. 26 at Penn Medicine in Radnor. The Delaware County Wellness Center in Yeadon and the Aston Community Center opened in January.
People interested in receiving a vaccine through Delaware County Government can fill out the pre-registration form online: https://delcopa.gov/vax
An Update on Vaccine Supply:
This week, the County received 3,000 first doses of Moderna, 3,200 second doses of Moderna and 2,340 doses of Pfizer.
As of March 10, Delaware County Government has requested a total of 41,520 vaccines and received a total of 24,050 vaccines. The Governor indicated that an increase in vaccines should be expected towards the end of March.
Currently, there are an estimated 246,680 people in Delaware County who are in Phase 1A and eligible to receive the vaccine. As of March 11, 44,885 people have been vaccinated in Delaware County.
Residents are reminded that the process to register for the COVID-19 vaccine varies by provider and there is not a centralized vaccine registration from the State. We understand that this can be confusing, time-consuming, and frustrating for residents.
A list of all COVID-19 vaccine providers in the county can be found here: https://www.delcopa.gov/covid/pdf/DelcoCOVID19VaccinationSites.pdf
Concerns about Second Doses:
Our goal is to provide the second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine within the 28-42 day window and the second dose of the Pfizer on day 21 as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.) CDC guidance states that the second dose should be administered as close to the recommended interval as possible, but the shot will still be effective if there is a short delay in getting the second dose. We are making every effort to have the second dose administered within the time frame recommended. There is no need to restart the vaccination series if the second dose is delayed as antibody protection will still be achieved with just one dose. People receiving their first dose from the County will be given an appointment for their second dose at the time of receiving the first dose. Residents are asked to keep their appointment. Second dose appointments cannot be rescheduled.
Resources:
Residents can call the Delaware County COVID-19 Call Center if they have COVID-19 related questions including information on vaccines and testing. The COVID-19 Call Center is open Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. In addition to responding to phone calls, the Center will also respond to emails.
The phone number is: (484) 276-2100
The email is: Covid19Resources@co.delaware.pa.us
The Delaware County Library System reminds residents that they can use a hot spot at one of the member libraries to gain access to the internet to search for available vaccine or testing appointments or research information relating to COVID-19. Hotspots are available for residents with a library card at no charge from any of the Delaware County libraries. They may be borrowed for three weeks and can be used to connect a computer, phone, or other mobile devices to the internet.
A hold can be placed by calling Delaware County Libraries at (610) 891-8622 or by clicking “Request It” from the catalog at https://bit.ly/hotspots100. Residents who need a library card may apply online at https://charlotte.delco.lib.pa.us/selfreg, call Delaware County Libraries at (610) 891-8622, send a request with their name, address, phone number, and birthday via email to support@delcolibraries.org, or visit a branch in-person to request one.
While Delaware County continues to serve the community at the public vaccine locations, plans are moving forward to begin the work of getting vaccines to county residents who are unable to leave their homes. If you are a Delaware County resident who is homebound or know of a county resident who will need to receive their vaccine in their home, please contact the Delaware County COVID-19 Call Center at (484) 276-2100, or by email at Covid19resources@co.delaware.pa.us to be added to the list of residents who will be served by this program. Information needed includes the name of the person to be served, a phone number, zip code, and an email if applicable. Work to identify these individuals have already begun with our community partners and county agencies, and more information will be available soon.
A Reminder
A reminder: Vaccination efforts for Delaware County are being coordinated through the Chester County Health Department. On March 19, 2020, Delaware County Council and Chester County Commissioners announced the approval by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, for Chester County to take the lead on
Delaware County’s COVID-19 public health response. The Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement between Chester and Delaware Counties identifies the responsibilities of the Chester County Health Department during the COVID-19 outbreak, which will continue until federal and state partners determine there is no longer a pandemic outbreak. Those responsibilities include coordination of increased testing, case investigation and surveillance, quarantine designations, and public health communication.