County offers incentives for vaccine push
‘Free meat for a year’ drawing offered at clinics
“If they need a little nudge and this is the nudge, then great. The bottom line is we want everybody to get vaccinated. I just want to urge and stress that people take opportunities like this one and get vaccinated.” — Montgomery County Commissioner Dr. Valerie Arkoosh
NORRISTOWN >> As new COVID-19 cases rise in Montgomery County and the delta variant becomes more of a concern, health officials stress the importance of vaccinations and have devised some innovative ways to combat vaccine hesitancy, including one initiative for a shot at free meat for a year.
The Montgomery County Immunization Coalition is partnering with Montgomery County Community College, Giant Pharmacy, and JBS Foods to host COVID-19 vaccine clinics at the college’s Blue Bell and Pottstown campuses in August and as an incentive, anyone 21 years and older who gets vaccinated at either campus will be entered into a drawing to win free meat to feed a family of four for a year.
Additionally, all attendees will receive a free burger, chips, water, and giveaways, courtesy of JBS foods.
“Whatever gives people the nudge to get vaccinated, I’m for it,” Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairwoman Dr. Valerie A. Arkoosh said during an in
terview this week. “If they need a little nudge and this is the nudge, then great. The bottom line is we want everybody to get vaccinated. I just want to urge and stress that people take opportunities like this one and get vaccinated.”
The clinics will be held on the following dates:
• Friday, Aug. 6 from 10 a.m. to 3p.m. at the Advanced Technology Center, 340 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell.
• Friday, Aug. 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the South Hall Community Room, 101 College Drive, Pottstown.
The clinics will be open to anyone 12 years of age and older who have not received their COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccines will be provided by Giant Pharmacy.
The two-dose Pfizer vaccine will be administered.
The Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine may also be available dependent on supply availability, officials said. If you receive the Pfizer vaccine, a followup appointment for your second dose will be scheduled for you to return three weeks after your first dose.
Clinics are by appointment only.
To register for the Pottstown campus clinic residents can visit https://calendar.mc3.edu/event/covid-vaccine-clinic—-bluebell-campus-1/
To register for the clinic at the Blue Bell campus residents can visit https://calendar.mc3.edu/event/covidvaccine-clinic—-blue-bellcampus/
As of July 28, according to state and county health data, officials estimated that about 76% of the county’s eligible 12 and over population has received at least one dose of the vaccine.
When one considers the county’s entire population, including those under 12 who aren’t currently eligible to receive a vaccination, the data indicates about 66.3% of residents have received at least one dose.
“I think we’re among the highest counties in the state, so that’s great news and people should be really proud of that. But we need more people to be vaccinated,” said Arkoosh, who as a physician has been at the forefront of the county’s efforts to combat COVID-19 and provide citizens with the latest information regarding the pandemic.
“Here in Montgomery County, we’ve actually had a pretty robust response to the vaccine. So we’ve made some good progress,” Arkoosh added. “I think the most important thing is that people have accurate information, that they get that information from a trusted source that actually understands the information, not off of some crazy social media post. What I have found is that for most people, once they get a solid education, factual information, and we make it convenient for them to get vaccinated, we’ve had a pretty high take-up rate.”
But Arkoosh points out, “COVID is certainly not over as we’ve seen in our rising cases in the last few weeks and that is because this delta variant is definitely more contagious.”
The 268 new positive COVID-19 cases, reported in the county during the seven-day period July 21 to July 27, brought the county’s total number of positive cases to 59,747 since March 7, 2020.
The 268 cases represented an increase from the 129 new cases reported during the seven-day period July 14 to July 20. Comparatively, there were 78 new COVID-19 cases reported in the county during the seven-day period spanning July 7 to July 13 and 44 cases reported during the period spanning June 30 to July 6.
The daily figures during the most recent seven-day period included:
• July 21 – 29 cases
• July 22 – 38 cases
• July 23 – 25 cases
• July 24 – 42 cases
• July 25 – 48 cases
• July 26 – 28 cases • July 27 – 58 cases
As of July 27, the 14-day average of daily positive COVID-19 cases stood at 28.4, up from the 14-day average of 14.8 cases on July 20 and the 14-day average of 8.7 cases on July 13 and the 14day average of 5.8 cases on July 6, according to county data. The 14-day average of daily COVID-19 cases stood at only 5.2 cases on June 24.
Officials said data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that any person who gets infected by the delta variant produces a lot more viral particles and so they are more contagious.
“So we continue to stress that getting vaccinated is the most important thing that people can do. Even if someone does catch this delta variant, if they’re vaccinated, the odds are overwhelming that they’ll have a very mild case that does not require hospitalization,” Arkoosh explained.
This week, the CDC recommended that even vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in parts of the U.S. where the delta variant is at a substantial level of transmission and is fueling infections. Arkoosh said county health officials are always discussing and monitoring CDC recommendations.
“We are looking at the data every day and we’ll continue to watch our numbers and we’ll make recommendations whenever we think it’s warranted,” Arkoosh said. “We’re still at a moderate level of transmission here in Montgomery County and we have been for two weeks. But there is some concern that the numbers are ticking up.
“I think this is the time to be thoughtful, depending upon your personal circumstances. So if you are a family that has unvaccinated members, people may want to consider wearing a mask in a public place where they’re unsure of the vaccination status of people that they’ll be interacting with or if they’re in a really crowded outdoor space, packed in at a concert or a game or something like that,” Arkoosh added.
“So, I think, if you are living with someone who is immunocompromised or you yourself are immunocompromised, you might want to think about, just in an abundance of caution, wearing a mask indoors or if you’re around people who aren’t vaccinated,” Arkoosh said.