County targets April to open vaccine center
County picks site in Muhlenberg Township
Commissioners OK’d an agreement to open a COVID vaccination site in Muhlenberg Township.
The Berks County commissioners Thursday approved an agreement to open a COVID vaccination site in Muhlenberg Township.
The mass vaccination center will be the first operated by the county and will be set up in a vacant storefront in the North Reading Plaza along Allentown Pike, also known as Route 222.
The county hopes to begin giving inoculations in early April to those who are eligible. Pennsylvania is in phase 1A of its vaccine distribution plan, meaning those eligible include those age 65 and older, long-term care facility residents, health care personnel, teachers and people with qualifying health conditions.
The Berks Community Health Center will serve as the county’s health care partner for the site, providing the medical personnel to administer vaccines as part of a public health collaborative.
The plan was approved by a 3-0 vote during the weekly commissioners meeting.
Berks this week continues to remain in the bottom quarter of counties with completed inoculations at 8,781 per 100,000 of the population, according to the state Department of Health.
The center will help get more people protected from the virus, county and health center officials said.
It’s not yet certain,
though, how much vaccine the center will receive or when, as that is dependent on the state Department of Health’s supply, said county spokeswoman Stephanie M. Weaver.
The county plans to have the site ready to open by April 1 and will begin inoculations when the vaccine arrives, she said.
Meanwhile, the total number of COVID cases in Berks increased Thursday to 37,631, including 916 deaths, according to the Department of Health.
The commissioners also voted to authorize a license agreement with North Reading
Investors and the health center to use the building, and the project is already underway.
The center is the result of numerous meetings of a task force of community entities. The county is also partnering with Co-County Wellness Services, BARTA and Berks County Public Libraries.
People will be able to sign up online when the site is ready to accept appointments. The county will also have a call center for those who cannot use technology or need transportation assistance.
BARTA will provide free transportation to the site through fixed and shared rides for people who are unable to get to the center.
Weaver said the county will announce when the center is operational and send out announcements as vaccine appointments become available.
Although the commissioners spoke of the need to greatly increase the number of vaccinations available, the vaccine pipeline has recently grown wider
in Berks with providers getting nearly 12,000 Pfizer and Moderna doses of the roughly 284,000 distributed across Pennsylvania this week in the biggest distribution yet.
The county’s partner, Berks Community Health Center, received 500 of the 12,000 doses.
During Thursday’s meeting, Berks Emergency Services Director Brian A. Gottschall said the Department of Health told county officials that it will begin focusing its vaccine allocations in Berks on eight key providers: Berks Community Health Center, Rockland Office; Oakside Care
Pharmacy; Penn State Health St. Joseph hospital; The Medicine Shoppes in Shillington and Boyertown; Tower Health Medical Group’s vaccine clinic in Muhlenberg Township; Blandon Pharmacy; and West Reading Drug Store.
Muhlenberg Township helped the county expedite the codes and building approval processes because the center will be so important to Berks, said township manager Brian Harris.
The convenience to township residents is another positive, he said.
“We’re delighted to have it here,” Harris said.