Slots fill quickly for launch of Mount Nittany’s COVID-19 vaccination scheduling system
Mount Nittany Health launched its online scheduling system for COVID-19 vaccines at 9 a.m. Friday, with all available appointments filled by late-morning and more than 2,000 scheduled for the first two weeks of February.
Health officials are asking for patience and continued caution from the community as local vaccination efforts are carried out.
Centre County’s only hospital is slated to begin administering the vaccine next week as part of phase 1A of the state’s vaccination plan, but local distribution depends on the availability of supplies. After the state expanded eligibility criteria to include anyone 65 or older, as well as those 16-64 who are immunocompromised or have a high-risk medical condition, Tom Charles, a Mount Nittany Health official, said the health system upped the quantity of vaccine requested from the state.
“But because the supply is not unlimited, we are not getting everything that we request from the state, and that’s understandable,” Charles, executive vice president of system development and chief strategy officer, told the Centre County Board of Commissioners during a Tuesday update. “There is simply far, far more demand for this right now than there is available vaccine.”
More than 678,000 partial vaccinations and 159,000 full vaccinations have been administered in Pennsylvania. In Centre County, 7,824 partial and 1,947 full vaccinations have been administered as of Friday, according to the state Department of Health.
Appointments, which are based on supply availability, can be made at mountnittany.org/coronavirus when available. In a video update, Charles said the health system anticipates receiving more information from the state on Monday about additional shipments. The website will be updated on Tuesday with information about the availability of vaccination appointments after Feb. 9, he said.
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.
“Please, please, please show up because that will allow us to give as much as we possibly can,” Charles said. “It’s great that people want to be vaccinated, we strongly encourage it. It’s an important part of bringing the pandemic under control. It’s going to take time.”
There have been 203 COVID-positive patients at the medical center this month, with an average of 42 positive inpatients per day. By comparison, there were 246 COVID-positive patients admitted to the hospital in December, with an average of 49 inpatients per day.
Centre Volunteers in Medicine is also working to vaccinate community members who are eligible in the 1A phase, and more than 100 people have received at least one vaccine dose so far, Executive Director Cheryl White said Friday.
“Every vaccine feels like Christmas,” White said. “There’s a lot of hope and optimism, and people are just so happy, and there’s a really high energy level.”
Tentatively planned for next month, CVIM is anticipating receiving enough supplies to host a one-day clinic at a local school where 1,000 people could receive a coronavirus vaccine.
“Here at CVIM, we partner with Mount Nittany Health and Geisinger to care for the community, and we’re all working together as best we can to get everyone vaccinated, so people just need to be patient,” White said, adding that more than 2,600 people are on CVIM’s waiting list. “We’re asking people to keep the first appointment they schedule.”
To sign up for a vaccination with CVIM, visit cvim.net/covid-vaccination.
Patients can sign up for vaccines administered by Geisinger by visiting geisinger.org/COVIDvax.
Though vaccination is a critical step in preventing further transmission of the coronavirus, people are still asked to abide by statewide mitigation efforts — including masking and social distancing.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 2:22 PM.
