HELP ON THE WAY
Rides available: Transportation provided for appointments Sites expanded: 3rd center ready to open in Willow Grove
NORRISTOWN >> Help is available for Montgomery County residents who may lack transportation to get to a coronavirus vaccination clinic when it’s their turn to receive the vaccine, according to county officials.
“We want to remind residents that no-cost transportation is available to all vaccine appointments,” county Commissioners’ Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh said during a news briefing on Wednesday. “There are currently two options through Transnet and SEPTA for anyone who needs a ride to their vaccine appointment.”
Residents are urged to call ahead to schedule an appointment for the transportation.
Transnet can be reached at 215-542-7433 and SEPTA can be reached at 215-580-7145.
According to officials, a third option for residents to obtain no-cost transportation is expected to be established next week through a partnership with GoGo Grandparent. The plan is for the county to subsidize the cost of those trips once the program is formally established. Additional information will be forthcoming.
“This is a service that connects people to companies that provide rides through applications that you would normally access via a smartphone but this takes the need for that smartphone out of the equation. So, you can still get connected to those rides without having a smartphone,” Arkoosh explained.
“Again, all of these options
will be no-cost for Montgomery County residents,” Arkoosh added.
The transportation options will be available to county residents once they receive a vaccine appointment.
Appointments are required to receive the vaccine.
All those eligible for the vaccine in Phase 1A of the state’s vaccine distribution program can pre-register to receive the vaccine through
the county Office of Public Health. The pre-registration link can be found at www.montcopa.org/COVID-19 under the green vaccination information button.
The state remains in Phase 1A, which includes those 65 and older, health care workers and anyone age 16 to 64 with specific medical conditions.
Residents who don’t have internet access can call the county’s COVID-19 hotline at (833) 875-3967 to connect with a volunteer who can assist them in pre-registering for a vaccine.
“Once your information is in our pre-registration system
it will be placed in line to receive an appointment. When we have a vaccine for you, a volunteer will call preregistrants back, once an appointment slot has been made available, to book a vaccine appointment over the phone. There’s no need for callers to have a valid email address or internet access.”
Phone pre-registration for vaccine appointments is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. In addition, the hotline has language line support for more than 100 languages.
County vaccine clinics operate Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. No walk-up registration is accepted.
The county Office of Public Health previously opened vaccination clinics at Norristown High School and another hosted by the Montgomery County Community College campus in Whitpain.
A third vaccination clinic is scheduled to open on Friday at the Parkside Shopping Center, in the former Petco location, in Willow Grove.
“Now, anyone who gets an appointment with us will be able to choose the location where they go to receive their vaccine from among the three sites that are currently open,” Arkoosh said. “This, I hope, will make it easier for people to find a location that is the most convenient for them.”
As of Wednesday, the county had a waiting list of about 127,000 people currently pre-registered for the vaccine in Phase 1A. With the current limited supply of vaccine, officials estimated it could take up to four to five months to get the 127,000 people scheduled for a vaccine appointment.
“At this point we do need to schedule vaccines along the lines of the doses that we’ve been allocated,” Arkoosh said.
Officials said as more vaccine doses become available, more appointment slots and vaccination clinics will be opened. The public should not call these sites directly as they are hosting the clinics and have no information on vaccine distribution, officials said.