Chesco officials pitch in to help on vaccine front
WEST CHESTER >> Chester County officials, including area lawmakers and county commissioners, took a hands-on approach in getting vaccines into the arms of residents by making calls to those who pre-registered for the vaccine.
“Every single person I spoke with was grateful and beyond relieved,” said state Rep. Dan Williams, D-74th, of Coatesville. “The wait has been long, and we’ll continue working to get more doses to Southeastern Pennsylvania. But today, I was grateful to bring hope to a lot of people.”
In addition to Chester County Commissioners Marian Moskowitz, Josh Maxwell and Michelle
Kichline, state Sens. Katie Muth, and Carolyn Comitta, and Reps. Tim Hennessey, John Lawrence, Christina Sappey, Danielle Friel-Otten, Dan Williams and Dianne Herrin, and staff from Sen. John Kane’s office gave their time on Saturday calling Chester County residents who qualify in Phase 1A, to offer them a vaccine appointment for the coming week.
“My top priority continues to be making sure that our region receives its fair share of the COVID vaccine, said state Sen. Muth, D-44th Dist., of Royersford. “Today, along with other officials, I made calls to eligible 1A residents who signed up with the county to offer them an appointment for this coming week.”
Based on the Health Department’s current Pfizer and Moderna vaccine inventory, 4,284 appointments have already been scheduled for next week, with a further 2,384 to be booked over the weekend.
The Chester County Health Department has invested in a robust and secure scheduling software system to improve upon the booking of vaccine appointments. Until the new system is in place, the Health Department is taking the personal and secure approach to booking COVID-19 vaccine appointments by phone.
“A lot of elected Republicans and Democrats, but most importantly Chester County residents, came to West Chester today to help register seniors for vaccines,” Maxwell said.
Starting last weekend, the Chester County Health Department began scheduling appointments for those next on the Phase 1A list.
The three county commissioners issued this statement: “Even as we begin to use the new secure software scheduling system, our Health Department will continue to call people who may not have access to a computer, or who may be apprehensive about booking a vaccine appointment online — giving everyone an equal opportunity to schedule their COVID-19 vaccine.”
Meanwhile, Chester County continues to receive inadequate shipments of the coronavirus vaccine, but county officials and local lawmakers are pressuring the state to get more to Chester County, the sixth most populated county in Pennsylvania.
Sen. Comitta, a member of the Pennsylvania Senate Health and Human Services Committee, said Chester County needs better and more frequent communication, fairer, and more transparent distribution, and more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“The equitable and fair distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine to vulnerable residents across the Commonwealth is crucial to our efforts to stop the spread of this virus and save lives,” Comitta said.
“I have been joined by Chester County’s state legislative delegation in pushing for an increase in our vaccine supply and, along with our legislative and congressional delegation, have urged the Pennsylvania Department of Health to analyze and reconsider how Pennsylvania’s limited vaccine supply is distributed.”
As of March 6, there are 1,587 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. Of that number, 325 patients are in the intensive care unit with COVID-19. Most of the patients hospitalized are ages 65 or older, and most of the deaths have occurred in patients 65 or older.
Chester County’s incident rate over the last 7 days per 100,000 people is 84,000, one of the lowest numbers officials have seen in a while. The county’s 7-day positivity rate has fallen below 5 percent to 4.7 percent, a full percentage point lower than Pennsylvania as a whole.
To date, 3.6 million doses of the vaccine have been allocated through March 6, and 2.8 million doses have been administered through March 5. There are nearly 13 million people living in Pennsylvania.
Everyone who lives and works in Chester County is reminded to register their interest in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine with the Chester County Health Department if they have not already done so. Easy registration, along with full information on Chester County’s COVID-19 vaccine program, can be found at www. chesco.org/covidvaccine. For any COVID-19 questions call 610-344-6225, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m.