2,000 doses of Moderna vaccine arrive in Montco
NORRISTOWN » Calling it “exceptionally good news” in the fight against the coronavirus, Montgomery County officials announced the county Office of Public Health took delivery of 2,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine.
“These first doses will be used early next week to vaccinate paramedics and EMTs, our public health nurses who will be administering vaccine and other critical frontline workforce,” county Commissioners’ Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh said during a weekly news briefing as the county entered the 42nd week of the pandemic.
“We believe that this is the first of a regular weekly shipment of vaccine but we do not yet have confirmation on the frequency or on the number of doses of vaccine that we will receive,” Arkoosh added.
“There is light at the end of this tunnel. The vaccine is arriving.” - Montgomery County Commissioner Dr. Valerie Arkoosh
Last week, county hospitals began receiving vaccine manufactured by Pfizer.
According to Pennsylvania Department of Health data, a total of 7,800 doses of vaccine were distributed directly to the county’s nine hospitals through Tuesday to vaccinate frontline doctors and nurses.
“We will take whatever we can get. We are prepared to receive both (Pfizer and Moderna) vaccines and we will not turn anything down,” Arkoosh said. “We’ve been told that we will get a weekly distribution but we haven’t gotten confirmation of that yet.”
Officials said vaccinations also will begin next week at county long-term care facilities for residents and staff through a separate contract between the federal government and CVS and Walgreens pharmacies. County officials do not have input into how that vaccine is distributed.
“There is light at the end of this tunnel. The vaccine is arriving. In a few short months there will be safe and effective vaccine available for our entire community but we need to hunker down between now and then to protect our first responders and hospitals, to protect our teachers, the staff, and the school bus drivers working in the districts whose school boards are choosing to offer inperson education,” Arkoosh said.
While vaccine is becoming available in the county, Arkoosh warned residents not to become complacent in the fight against the virus.
“While having vaccine allows us to fight this virus head-on, we must continue to play defense. It will be a number of months before we have enough vaccine to vaccinate the general population. As a community we remain in this fight together,” said Arkoosh, who was joined at the virtual briefing by fellow Commissioner Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr. “The choices each of us make regarding our personal conduct…impact all of us.”
To flatten the current surge of COVID-19 cases in the county, Arkoosh has urged residents to wear a mask, to avoid social gatherings, to abide by handwashing recommendations, to fully cooperate if they receive a call from a contact tracer, and to download the free COVID Alert PA app onto their phone.
COVID Alert PA is a free mobile app, offered by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, that uses Bluetooth low energy technology and the Exposure Notification System, created jointly by Google and Apple, to notify and give public health guidance to anyone who may have been in close contact with a person who also has the app and has tested positive for COVID-19.
During the upcoming holidays, “the safest strategy is to celebrate only with the people in your household,” Arkoosh reminded county residents.
Arkoosh pointed out there are more people currently hospitalized with the virus in the county’s nine hospitals than were hospitalized during the initial spring surge.
On Wednesday, 464 individuals with COVID-19 were in the county’s hospitals, a decrease from the 537 patients the previous week. Fifty-one of the current patients require ventilators.
“While there has been a reduction in the total number of hospitalizations since last week, some of our area hospitals remain near capacity limits. All of our hospitals continue to be impacted by staff who have been exposed or infected in the community due to the substantial amount of virus circulating right now,” Arkoosh said.
“Our hospitals are going to extraordinary lengths to properly and safely staff the beds that our currently open. We need to work together as a community to reduce the spread of virus throughout our community to help protect our hospital staff,” Arkoosh added.
The county’s COVID-19 positivity rate decreased slightly during the last week, according to county data.
The overall 14-day COVID-19 positivity rate for the county, as of Dec. 18, was 10.9% which was a decrease from the 11.1% positivity rate for the 14-day period ending Dec. 11.
Health officials believe having a positivity rate less than 5% indicates a county is controlling the spread of the virus and keeping it suppressed.
Officials reported that the daily positivity rate in the county was above 5% every day between Dec. 5 and Dec. 18.
On Wednesday, officials reported 361 new positive cases of the virus, bringing the county’s total number of cases to 30,446 since March 7, when the first two cases of the virus were identified in the county. Fourteen of the new cases were individuals who resided in long-term care facilities and 49 were reported at the county jail in Lower Providence, officials said.
The new positive individuals included 203 males and 158 females who ranged in age from 1 to 98 and resided in 55 municipalities.
Officials also reported five more deaths from the virus on Wednesday, bringing the county’s death toll to 973 since the pandemic began in March. The five individuals ranged in age from 63 to 85.
Since March, a total of 511 females and 462 males, who ranged in age from 34 to 104, have died from the virus in the county.
Addressing the COVID-19 cases at the county jail, officials said the fourth round of facilitywide testing recently occurred at facility.
Between Dec. 7 and Dec. 18, a total of 716 inmates were tested, 90 of whom tested positive.
“Currently, all inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19 are in isolation and are stable without any symptoms,” Arkoosh said.
A total of 287 staf f members at the jail were tested during the same period and 51 staff members tested positive, officials said.
Testing is available for all county residents and those who work in the county and want or need to be tested. The county has established outdoor walk-up testing sites in Pottstown, Norristown, Lansdale, Willow Grove, Ardmore and Green Lane to accommodate those who want to be tested.
The six county-run sites provide self-administered tests at no cost, although insurance will be billed if you have it. The sites do require an appointment for testing.
Normally, each of the six testing sites is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Appointments can be made weekdays starting at 7 a.m. by visiting www.montcopa.org/COVIDand clicking on the county testing information button. Residents can also register for a test at any of the six sites by calling 610-970-2937 beginning at 8:30 a.m. daily.
However, due to the upcoming holiday, the hours at the six sites have changed. On Thursday, Dec. 24 all sites will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. All the sites will be closed on Friday, Dec. 25.
In Pottstown, the testing site is located at the county’s Office of Public Health Pottstown Health Center at 364 King St.
In Norristown, a testing site is located on the parking lot of the Delaware Valley Community Health Norristown Regional Health Center at 1401 DeKalb St.
In Lansdale, a testing site is located at 421 Main St. Another testing site is located at Deep Creek and Snyder roads in the Green Lane Park area.
In Ardmore, a testing site is located at 114 W. Lancaster Avenue. Officials announced the Ardmore location also will be open on Saturday, Dec. 26 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For Saturday testing, appointments can be reserved online only beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday.
In Willow Grove, a testing site is at First Baptist Church - Crestmont, 1678 Fairview Ave.