LVHN sets up mass vaccination site
Providers work toward inoculating more residents in the fight to end the pandemic
Lehigh Valley Health Network is setting up the area’s first mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, while rival St. Luke’s University Health Network is scouting locations of its own as the providers work toward inoculating more residents in the fight to end the pandemic.
The tents for mass immunization are in place at the South Whitehall Township amusement park, but vaccinations at the site won’t start until LVHN gets the go-ahead from the state and receives additional doses, the health network said Wednes
day. While LVHN said it hopes to vaccinate as many as 5,000 people per day once the Dorney Park site is up and running, that is dependent on many factors including vaccine supply.
People will be vaccinated at the site when it is their turn under the state’s phased vaccination plan, and appointments will be required. Pennsylvania remains in Phase 1A of its vaccination plan, primarily focused on health care workers and people in long-term care facilities.
“LVHN is setting up at Dorney Park and ready to vaccinate all who want the vaccine in each phase when we receive vaccines from the state,” LVHN spokesperson Brian Downs said in a statement. “We are ready to take our tested plan live for the COVID-19 vaccine so that we can continue our leadership role and vaccinate all that want it in a quick and safe setting.”
Downs said the operation will mirror the health network’s free drive-thru flu vaccination clinic it does every fall. In November, the clinic’s 23rd year, LVHN gave almost 8,000 flu vaccinations over two days at Dorney Park and Allentown’s Coca-Cola Park, Downs said.
To this point, Downs said, LVHN has administered COVID-19 vaccinations at its flagship Cedar Crest campus in Salisbury Township and at its other facilities, smaller-scale operations than what the site will look like at Dorney Park. The health network also plans to establish sites in Northampton and Monroe counties.
St. Luke’s is offering the vaccine at 11 hospital campuses throughout the greater Lehigh Valley and will add sites as necessary to meet the community’s needs, spokesperson Sam Kennedy said. St. Luke’s, he added, also has looked at locations for a mass vaccination site.
“We do have locations scouted, but we’re not jumping the gun,” Kennedy said. “We’re following the state guidance.”
State vaccination plan
Pennsylvania’s hospitals began receiving shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine the week of Dec. 14, while deliveries of the Moderna vaccine started a week later. Federal data, updated Wednesday afternoon, shows Pennsylvania has received 1,017,475 doses of the two approved vaccines.
The state’s vaccine dashboard shows that 385,222 doses have been administered so far, not including in Philadelphia, which has a separate program and dose allotments. The total also excludes people in federal facilities such as prisons or veterans’ hospitals.
Of that total, almost 300,000 people have received the first dose of either vaccine, while more than 42,000 have received two doses. Maximum immunity is achieved about 10 days after the second dose.
Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine and state health officials were evaluating new federal guidance Tuesday, after Operation Warp Speed directed states to prioritize the vaccination of those 65 and older as well as those under 65 with high-risk conditions. Those two groups are under Phase 1C in Pennsylvania’s vaccination plan.
On Monday, Levine said the state was nearing Phase 1B, which includes those 75 and older, and essential workers such as first responders, grocery store employees and manufacturing workers.
LVHN is not out of vaccine doses, Downs said, but continues to inoculate Phase 1A recipients and wants to ensure it has enough for that group. LVHN also is offering the vaccine to first responders, with many of those professions included in Phase 1B.
“We also are vaccinating firefighters, police, National Guard and protective services personnel, so we want to have vaccine on hand for them,” Downs said. “In addition, we are giving the second dose of vaccines to those who are due to receive it, so we have vaccine for that group. We are trying to get vaccine to as many people as possible as quickly as possible.”
At St. Luke’s, Kennedy said the health network continues to vaccinate people in Phase 1A, as it has been directed to do by the state.
Nearly five weeks into vaccine distribution, St. Luke’s has received about 45,000 vaccine doses across its hospital footprint, while LVHN has received nearly 34,000 doses, according to an analysis of state data. The doses have been delivered to St. Luke’s addresses in six counties, while LVHN’s deliveries went to its pharmacy services address in Allentown.
The Bethlehem Health Bureau also has received 5,700 doses, while 3,500 doses have been delivered to the Allentown Health Bureau. In addition, Wind Gap Community Pharmacy has received 1,000 doses, while A Plus Pediatrics, in Bethlehem Township, has received 100 doses, according to the data.
What should you do
As the vaccine rollout progresses into new phases, LVHN and St. Luke’s encouraged residents to sign up on their online portals to be notified when it’s their turn to schedule the vaccination.
LVHN’s annual flu vaccination clinic doesn’t require appointments — though some do sign up for time slots — but LVHN will require appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine. Those appointments will be scheduled via LVHN’s online portal, at MyLVHN.org.
Those with a MyLVHN account will be preregistered for the vaccine, though LVHN asks patients to make sure their information is up to date. People who are not LVHN patients also can make a MyLVHN account and will be notified when it is their turn to get vaccinated.
Similarly, at St. Luke’s, people can complete a questionnaire at St. Luke’s MyChart online portal so they can be notified when it’s their turn to schedule a vaccination appointment. Those who are not St. Luke’s patients can sign up at sluhn. org/mychart.
Trucks at Dorney Park
Regarding LVHN’s planned mass vaccination site, Dorney Park spokesperson Tana Korpics said work began Tuesday in getting the operation set up, with tents rising in the facility’s parking lots.
As for those tractor-trailers parked at Dorney Park’s main parking lot along Hamilton Boulevard, she said those trucks are not related to the vaccination effort. Korpics couldn’t name the businesses or supplies tied to the trucks, which she said is confidential.
“In order to help Lehigh Valley businesses navigate the pandemic, we are assisting with the elevated supply chain demand in the region,” Korpics said.
Morning Call reporter Jon Harris can be reached at 484280-2866 or at jon.harris@ mcall.com.