Mount Nittany received another shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s who is eligible for it
Mount Nittany Health received another shipment Tuesday of the COVID-19 vaccine — this time the Moderna vaccine — and plans to administer some of the doses to other health care workers around Centre County.
According to a written statement from Mount Nittany, it will continue to vaccinate its own employees and medical staff. But it will also begin the process of vaccinating other community members, such as health care workers from Centre Volunteers in Medicine, county emergency personnel, local physicians, dentists and school nurses.
Mount Nittany’s latest move follows the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The health system will also directly contact those eligible for the vaccine.
“We are still in a phase where supply is extremely limited, and we can only offer vaccinations to health care workers,” said Dr. Nirmal Joshi, chief medical officer at Mount Nittany Health. “We are pleased to be able to take this additional step in vaccinating another tier of frontline workers with the vaccine.”
More than 1,200 employees and medical staff at Mount Nittany have already received their first injection of the COVID-19 vaccine.
It is not yet known when the general public might have access to the vaccine. But Dr. Anthony Fauci said most Americans should have the opportunity to get vaccinated by the spring, while Moderna’s CEO recently said any American who wants a vaccine should be able to get one by Memorial Day.
Still, specifics are scant at this early point. Pennsylvania hospitals only received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier this month, after all.
“We have received no guidance yet on when we can expect a sufficient quantity of vaccine to be able to vaccinate others in the community, but we will alert the public through the media, social media and other communications channels as soon as we have that information,” Joshi added. “We have seen no significant side effects among those who have been vaccinated and encourage as much participation as possible as supplies increase and additional members of the public become eligible for the vaccine.”
From March to mid-August, Centre County had 392 total coronavirus cases. Since then, it’s added more than 8,000 additional cases.
The county’s testing positivity rate also stands at 11.3% — anything over 10% is considered significant — although it is tied for the fifth-lowest county rate in the commonwealth. Pennsylvania has a positivity rate of 15.1%.
“In the meantime, we urge the public to follow the recommendations we and other public health authorities have been making: wear a mask, wash your hands frequently and avoid gatherings outside your immediate household,” Joshi said. “The number of COVID hospitalizations at Mount Nittany Medical Center has reached a new high of 66 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 today.
“We urge everyone ... to be responsible and do what they can to stay safe until the vaccine is more widely available.”
This story was originally published December 29, 2020 at 12:05 PM.
