Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Appointments open to all over age 16
Chester County Health Department moves eligibility dates forward
>> The Chester County Health Department announced Friday that everyone age 16 and over who lives and works in Chester County is now eligible to schedule an appointment to receive a free COVID-19 vaccine.
The move by the county health department brings forward the eligibility dates for Phase 1C and Phase 2, originally directed by the State to occur on April 12 and April 19 respectively.
“Our decision to open eligibility to everyone in Chester County age 16 and over was made based on two factors,” said Jeanne Franklin, director of the Chester County Health Department. “First, the number of people in the county who have already received the vaccine, combined with the number of people currently scheduled with us to receive the vaccine over the coming weeks.
“And second, the fact that we have three large-scale clinics that are administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this weekend, with a number of appointments still available.”
“We have sent messages to everyone registered with the Chester County Health Department in Phases 1A and 1B to ask them to schedule appointments, and
when those appointment rates slowed down, we extended eligibility to Phase 1C. After a brief increase in scheduling, we are now extending eligibility to everyone in all phases, to ensure all vaccine appointments are filled for this weekend, and into the coming weeks,” added Franklin.
More than 192,000 people age 16 and over in Chester County have already received the COVID-19 vaccine, and the Chester County Health Department reports that a further 47,000 people currently have appointments scheduled with the health department over the coming weeks.
“If you factor in vaccine appointments being scheduled with other providers, plus the assumption that around 70 percent of the eligible population will actually choose to receive the vaccine, then the number remaining to receive the vaccine is really closer to 50,000 people in Chester County,” noted Franklin.
The Chester County Health Department continues to administer the Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Even with an anticipated reduction in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine coming to the county in the next few weeks, the health department will, on average, be administering 12,000 doses per week.
In opening up eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine to everyone age 16 and over in Chester County, the Health Department asks three things:
If you haven’t yet registered your interest in receiving the vaccine with the Chester County Health Department, please register now at chesco.org/covidvaccine, and then schedule an appointment.
If you are already registered with the health department, you can login to your account and book an appointment.
If you registered with the Chester County Health Department, and have received your COVID-19 vaccine elsewhere, please remove your name off the registration list to help the health department keep an accurate record of exactly how many people are still waiting to be vaccinated.
In addition to scheduling an appointment online, the option to book an appointment via the health department’s call center is also an option. The call center can currently schedule an appointment over the phone for anyone who does not have access to a computer or who is uncomfortable using the County’s scheduling system. That number is 610344-6225.
For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine, and the Chester County Health Department’s COVID-19 program, go to chesco.org/covidvaccine.