Dec. 24 update: Mount Nittany Health gives 1,223 employees 1st dose of COVID-19 vaccine

More than 1,200 providers and staff at Mount Nittany Health have received the COVID-19 vaccine, the health system said Thursday.

Mount Nittany received about 195 vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Dec. 16 and began inoculating employees Friday. Each vial was expected to contain five doses of the vaccine, but the Food and Drug Administration said the vials actually had up to six doses. These bonus doses allowed Mount Nittany to provide the vaccine to 1,223 employees.

“We were extremely pleased to discover the extra doses,” Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nirmal Joshi said. “To be able to offer the vaccine to several hundred additional staff members was a wonderful surprise.”

Employees reported “very few minor symptoms,” such as soreness in the arm, after their vaccination. They will receive their second dose three weeks after the first, as per Pfizer’s guidelines.

In Centre County, the number of new cases remained below 100 for a fifth day Thursday. With 93 additional cases, the county has had 8,543 cases (8,067 confirmed and 476 probable) since March 20. There have been 51,575 negative cases.

Four deaths were added to bring the total to 131, according to the Health Department. The county coroner has confirmed 100 deaths.

Pennsylvania reported 9,230 new cases, which brings the statewide total to 590,386. There have been 3.19 million negative tests, and 63% of people have recovered across the state.

With 276 new deaths reported Thursday, there have been 14,718 across the state. Mifflin County has the highest death rate per 100,000 residents at about 227. There have been 105 deaths in that county. Northumberland’s rate closely follows, at about 225 deaths per 100,000 residents. Centre County’s rate is 80.5.

According to the state’s hospital dashboard, which also includes rehabilitation facilities, 58 patients are hospitalized in Centre County with COVID-19. That’s an increase of four from the previous day. Seven of those patients are in intensive care and on ventilators.

Statewide, just 12% of adult ICU beds are available, according to the dashboard. There are 6,142 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state — twice the peak in the spring — with 1,263 in intensive care.

The breakdown of confirmed Centre County cases by ZIP code is as follows, according to the Health Department:

• 16801 (State College): 3,374 (12 new cases)
• 16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 1,345 (12 new cases)
• 16802 (University Park): 794
• 16803 (State College): 640 (8 new cases)
• 16686 (Tyrone): 622 (13 new cases)
• 16866 (Philipsburg): 483 (8 new cases)
• 16870 (Port Matilda): 223 (5 new cases)
• 16841 (Howard): 199 (10 new cases)
• 16875 (Spring Mills): 153 (3 new cases)
• 16828 (Centre Hall): 142 (2 new cases)
• 16845 (Karthaus): 122
• 16827 (Boalsburg): 114 (2 new cases)
• 16822 (Beech Creek): 101 (3 new cases)
• 16844 (Julian): 79 (1 new case)
• 16666 (Osceola Mills): 72 (1 new case)
• 16853 (Milesburg): 71 (1 new case)
• 16874 (Snow Shoe): 64
• 16877 (Warriors Mark): 64 (1 new case)
• 16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 46 (1 new case)
• 16826 (Blanchard): 41 (5 new cases)
• 16829 (Clarence): 40 (2 new cases)
• 16872 (Rebersburg): 37
• 16854 (Millheim): 36
• 16820 (Aaronsburg): 33 (2 new cases)
• 16851 (Lemont): 33
• 16859 (Moshannon): 25
• 16856 (Mingoville): 21 (1 new case)
• 16832 (Coburn): 18
• 16860 (Munson): 14
• 16677 (Sandy Ridge): 12 (1 new case)
• 16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 12
• 16852 (Madisonburg): 11 (2 new cases)
• 16804 (State College): 7
• 16835 (Unionville): 6
• 16864, 16882: 1-4 cases each

The state does not provide specific numbers when there are fewer than five cases to protect patient privacy, and does not identify exactly where a case occurred in a ZIP code that spans multiple counties.

In Centre County, seven new cases and four new deaths were reported among residents of nursing and personal care homes. There have been 561 resident cases, 111 employee cases and 116 deaths in 16 long-term care facilities in the county, the Health Department said.

This story was originally published December 24, 2020 at 12:22 PM.