Mount Nittany announced more COVID-19 vaccine availability. Appointments were gone within 30 minutes
After seeing a demand 10 times greater than COVID-19 vaccine supply, Mount Nittany Health announced additional appointment availability Tuesday for those hoping to schedule vaccinations.
When the health system launched its online self-scheduling platform last week, 20,000 people attempted to schedule one of the 2,000 available appointments, and slots filled up within hours.
On Tuesday, the health system opened additional appointment times online for next week. More than 1,200 appointments were filled within 30 minutes.
The amount of vaccine and future vaccine appointment availability continues to be dependent on the confirmation of additional supply from the state Department of Health.
“We continue to request additional vaccines from DOH and receive weekly updates from them as additional shipments are confirmed,” a Mount Nittany spokesperson wrote in a statement. “We have committed to provide regular updates on our website every Tuesday.”
In an update at Monday’s State College Borough Council meeting, Tom Charles, Mount Nittany Health’s executive vice president of system development and chief strategy officer, said vaccine waiting lists at Centre Volunteers in Medicine and Boalsburg Apothecary total 10,000.
Appointments, which are based on supply availability, can be made at mountnittany.org/coronavirus when available. The health system plans to provide an update on vaccine availability and appointments every Tuesday at noon.
“We have an aggressive plan for continuing to distribute the vaccine as it’s confirmed by DOH and are doing everything that we can to secure as much as possible, as fast as possible,” a spokesperson wrote. “We are only opening appointments as the DOH confirms supplies, to ensure that no scheduled patient is left without a vaccine.”
The health system is working to vaccinate those included in phase 1A of the state’s vaccination plan. That phase includes anyone 65 or older, as well as those 16-64 who are immunocompromised or have a high-risk medical condition.
To avoid wasting doses, patients are asked to honor their appointment once scheduled. Before leaving their initial appointment, Charles said patients will be asked to schedule a time to receive their second dose.
Since Dec. 18, Mount Nittany Health has administered more than 4,600 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, with just over 6,500 doses scheduled to be administered through the first week in March, a spokesperson said.
“We strongly encourage everyone who is able to get the vaccine, however, the demand far exceeds the current supply that is allotted to us by the DOH, so we are asking for continued patience during this time,” a spokesperson wrote. “It’s important that everyone continues to mask, social distance and practice good hand hygiene.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 2:21 PM.
