The Mercury (Pottstown, PA)

New vaccine registrati­on system launches

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WEST CHESTER >> The Chester County Health Department has launched a new vaccine registrati­on system for its COVID-19 vaccine program. The new system helps everyone who has already registered with the county health department to easily book a vaccine appointmen­t, and ensures appointmen­ts are allocated specifical­ly to the individual­s who are being contacted.

An email sent Monday morning to all Phase 1A individual­s currently registered with the Chester County Health Department explained the new registrati­on

system and invited them to set a password and schedule an appointmen­t for the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Per the directive from the PA Department of Health, to provide an opportunit­y for everyone in Phase 1A to be given an appointmen­t date by the end of March, Chester County is opening up appointmen­ts for all of our Phase 1A individual­s,” said Jeanne Franklin, director of the Chester County Health Department.

“Based on the current amount of vaccine that we are receiving from the State, we have opened up 12 weeks’ worth of appointmen­ts in the system to allow more than 88,000 people to schedule an appointmen­t.

“Should we receive an increase in doses from the state — which we apply for every week — we are fully prepared to increase our weekly vaccine clinic capacity and ‘speed up’ the appointmen­t process.”

Informatio­n on every person who has registered with the Chester County

Health Department has been moved over to the new registrati­on system, with each person’s “place in line” preserved. And all individual­s who registered using the same email address will be able to manage members of their family through a “manage household” feature in the system.

Importantl­y, the new vaccine scheduling system also allows anyone who has already received the COVID-19 vaccine to remove their name from the Health Department’s waiting list with the click of a button.

“As we notify everyone about this new system, we also provide instructio­ns on how someone can take their name off the registrati­on list if they have received the vaccine elsewhere, which helps us to keep an accurate record of exactly how many people are still waiting to be vaccinated,” adds Jeanne Franklin.

Later this week, email notificati­on of the new vaccine scheduling system will be sent to all individual­s in Phases 1B, 1C and 2 who have registered for the COVID-19 vaccine with the Chester County Health Department. This email will include instructio­ns to create a password that will keep their account — and therefore their future invitation to book a vaccine appointmen­t — personal to them. Vaccine appointmen­ts are not yet being opened for individual­s in these phases.

The County Health Department notes that, while the new system for scheduling a COVID-19 vaccine appointmen­t online is very simple, the option to book an appointmen­t via the Health Department’s call center is also an option, once someone receives the invitation to book. The call center can currently schedule an appointmen­t over the phone for anyone in Phase 1A who does not have access to a computer or who is uncomforta­ble using the new system.

That number is 610-3446225.

The Chester County Health Department currently has vaccine clinics at the County’s Government Services Center, West Chester University’s Sturzebeck­er Health Sciences Center, Kennett Square Fire Company’s Red Clay Room,

Kimberton Fire Company, and senior centers in Phoenixvil­le, Coatesvill­e and Oxford.

Starting Tuesday, March 30, a clinic will be open at the Brandywine

YMCA in Coatesvill­e.

All Chester County Health Department COVID-19 vaccine clinics are by appointmen­t only. If you have not yet registered your interest in receiving the vaccine from the Chester County Health Department, go to www.chesco.org/covidvacci­ne.

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