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Hall F of the Pennsylvania Convention Center makes name as the most important room in Philadelphia.
The home of the city’s counting that helped decide the election two months ago, the sprawling ward in 12th and Arch Street now houses Philly’s first massage community COVID-19 vaccination clinic.
Divided into zones that optimize the 125,000-square-foot space for safety and efficiency, the facility is managed by the people behind Philly Fighting COVID, in partnership with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.
The non-profit organization, known as PFC, has also launched the city’s first registration site, where Philadelphians who want to get vaccinated can enter their information in advance.
‘We’re all been through a lot. But at the moment we have a chance to make the future better, ‘says PFC on its website. “The best way to stay informed of your turn is to take it in advance to get your vaccine here.”
On Friday morning, the conference center began vaccinating the city’s 15,000 home health care workers, part of the “Phase 1a” group, along with hospitals and other medical staff.
The clinic is intended to help accelerate the explosion of the vaccine, which is slower than hoped for in the country. Earlier this week, Philadelphia used only 40% of the supply, said Health Commissioner Tom Farley. When asked about the delay, Farley blamed startup logistics, the recent holidays and the lack of funding from the federal government.
“There will be an initial process to set up the inventory,” he said Tuesday. “This is all done by a public health system that has not received any federal funds for the distribution of the vaccine.”
The new congressional assistance package has allocated $ 8 billion for vaccinations, but the money has not yet been issued to cities and states.
Philly Fighting COVID estimates that the Center City pop-up will be able to vaccinate between 100 and 450 people per hour, for a total of 1 to 4.5 000 people per hour.
That would be a big boost. According to data from the Department of Health, the shots are currently given an average of about 1,500 Philadelphians per day.
If the pass remains the same, Commissioner Farley said, it could take until the end of 2021 before the entire city is vaccinated. Hence the pop-up clinic, the first of several PFCs planned. If Philly gets enough doses to go beyond health workers and in the next phase you can be vaccinated there.
The best way to stay up to date? Sign up online for the PFC edition of COVIDreadi, the federal government-built vaccine distribution portal. By way of explanation, this particular site is reserved for Philadelphia only, and it does not take up space in the queue.
When you enter your information – including name, contact information, date of birth, zip code, occupation and household members – you do not register exactly as you do not make an appointment and receive no confirmation of the date of vaccination.
When pre-connected, you will:
- Help PFC and the city decide where they want to set up clinics – speed up implementation
- Get an alert when people in your phase are welcomed for vaccinations
- Receive regular updates on the status of vaccine administration across the city
Vaccine distribution in Philadelphia is currently being prioritized in the following phases, which follow CDC guidelines:
Phase 1a: Healthcare workers and staff, including home health workers, EMTs and volunteers at COVID test sites, as well as residents of long-term care facilities (handled by pharmacies traveling directly to nursing homes).
Phase 1b: essential workers / critical infrastructure workers not covered by Phase 1a, such as police, firefighters, teachers, grocery stores, correctional officers, postal service workers, transport workers – plus people in congregations such as correctional facilities, behavioral health facilities and shelters.
Phase 1c: People 65 years and older living at home.
Phase 2: Essential workers with moderate risks and people at high risk for serious illnesses and deaths, including people with chronic health conditions.
Phase 3: All remaining Philadelphia.