Mount Nittany Health has the infrastructure in place to administer COVID-19 vaccinations on a more large-scale basis, but needs more vaccine shipments to be able to do so, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nirmal Joshi said on Friday.
Centre County’s largest provider of COVID-19 vaccinations, the medical center has administered more than 9,000 since its efforts began in December. Since the Pennsylvania Department of Health expanded phase 1A eligibility to include anyone 65 and older and people 16 and older with certain high-risk medical conditions, the hospital has vaccinated more than 4,500 community members in the last two weeks, including 1,500 in the past week.
More than 7,000 future vaccination appointments are currently scheduled, Joshi said.
Dependent on weekly allocations from the health department and with the nation facing a shortage, however, Mount Nittany is limited in how many vaccinations it can do each week.
“While we are grateful we’ve been able to help so many, we have the ability to do more,” Joshi said in a statement on Friday. “With the staff, space and systems already in place, we are capable of vaccinating a much larger number of people. We simply do not have the vaccine. We continue to regularly request additional vaccines from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and as these shipments are received, immediately get them out to our community.”
Mount Nittany learns each Monday how much vaccine it will receive, then updates its website at noon on Tuesday with appointment availabilities for self-scheduling. The health system also calls at-risk, vulnerable patients in its care who may need assistance about appointments.
Tom Charles, executive vice president of Mount Nittany Health, said demand for appointments is eight to 10 times the number of appointments available.
With such high demand, the online appointments have been quickly booked each week, leading to some frustration among community members.
“We understand the confusion and frustration regarding scheduling a vaccine appointment,” Joshi said. “We continue to listen to our community’s feedback and are working hard to improve the process to schedule a vaccine appointment.”
He added that clinics are scheduled only as shipments are confirmed to ensure no patient with a scheduled appointment is left without a vaccine.
“We appreciate the community’s patience as we work to vaccinate everyone who wants a vaccine,” Joshi said. “This will take time. We ask that everyone please continue to keep yourself and the community safe by wearing a mask, social distancing, avoid large gatherings and washing your hands frequently.”
A total of 18,511 people in Centre County have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, including 3,358 who are fully covered with both required doses, according to health department data.
Tom Charles, Mount Nittany Health executive vice president for system development, provided a video update on Friday morning:
