While many have been waiting months to get their coronavirus vaccines, providers in Central Pennsylvania say they have thousands of appointments available in the coming days.
Pennsylvania has received a larger amount of COVID-19 vaccines in recent weeks. This week alone, the state received more than 400,000 first-dose vaccines. Some providers have many appointments and require everyone to sign up, even if they are not yet eligible.
It will not be long before everyone is eligible for COVID-19 vaccines. Gov. Tom Wolf said everyone in Pennsylvania will be eligible for vaccine appointments on April 19th. Earlier this week, President Joe Biden said the fitness would be expanded from April 19 to nationwide.
Currently, everyone in Phase 1A and Phase 1B of the state’s deployment plans is eligible for appointments.
Phase 1A includes 65 and older and younger people with certain health conditions. Phase 1B covers a number of frontline workers, including law enforcement, firefighters, grocery store employees, food and agricultural workers, mass transport workers, postal workers and manufacturers.
From 12 April, everyone in Phase 1C will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccines.
Phase 1C includes those in the energy sector, legal services, housing construction, federal, state and local government workers, financial services, bank counters, information technology workers and media companies. Some providers have already started planning appointments for those in Phase 1C. (Here is the complete list of people included in each phase.)
Here is a summary of major providers offering deals this weekend and in the coming days.
Ent Lancaster in
The Mass Vaccination Clinic, located in Park City Center in Lancaster, is appealing to everyone to register, even if they are not yet eligible for the shots.
The clinic, based in a former Bon-Ton store, has thousands of appointments available.
“We have about 5,000 appointments available until next week and a total of about 26,000 appointments by the end of the month,” said Brett Marcy, a spokesman for the vaccine Lancaster coalition.
Register at VaccinateLancaster.org or by calling 717-588-1020.
WelSpan
Spokesman Ryan Coyle, WellSpan has several hundred appointments available in Franklin, Adams, York, Lancaster and Lebanon.
Coyle said WellSpan is ready for the influx of people who are going to register when next week next phase will expand to Phase 1C. “We have enough dose of COVID-19 vaccine doses and are ready to accept suitable individuals for their hopeful hope,” Coyle said.
With the expectation of an increase in new appointments, WellSpan encourages anyone who wants the vaccine to be registered, regardless of your status. Register at MyWellSpan.org and you will be notified to make an appointment when you are eligible. WellSpan’s hotline for vaccination against COVID-19 is (855) 851-3641.
Penn State Health
Penn State Health encourages anyone who wants to report the vaccine, regardless of suitability. Register on the Penn State Health website or call 844-774-8883. Many call by phone to register, so the waiting time may be longer than normal.
Earlier this week, Penn State Health said the system sees a number of “non-shows” for scheduled appointments, causing delays for others and wasting the chance of vaccination. This was also a problem with other suppliers.
Barbara Schindo, a spokeswoman for Penn State Health, said the situation had improved, but asked anyone who no longer needed an appointment to please cancel.
UPMC
UPMC encourages everyone in Phases 1A, 1B and 1C to report for vaccinations.
You can go online and register on UPMC’s vaccination website or call 844-876-2822. The telephone line has a high volume, so UPMC encourages online registration to keep the telephone line available to those who do not have computer access.
For those in western Pennsylvania, UPMC is organizing a major lead-in clinic this weekend. UPMC is working with the Allegheny County Department of Health and the Pittsburgh Penguins for a Johnson & Johnson Vaccination Clinic at the Galleria in Pittsburgh Mills in Tarentum on April 14 and 15. UPMC aims to vaccinate 12,000 people during the two-day event. To register for the event, go to UPMC’s website or call 833-676-1995.
Cumberland County Community Vaccine Clinic
The clinic has appointments available today and Saturday. Those in Phases 1A and 1B can now get appointments. Those in Phase 1C can now register for appointments on or after April 12, the country said in a Twitter post.
The Cumberland County Community Vaccination Clinic is located in the former Kmart, which is now the U-Haul building at 1180 Walnut Bottom Road in South Middleton Township near Carlisle.
You can schedule an appointment at www.qcpharmacy.com. Or call 717-918-9880 between 9am and 3pm from Monday to Saturday.
The clinic is operated by Quality Care, Holly and Big Spring Pharmacies.
Other resources
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has an online search tool to help you find vaccines. It does not allow you to make appointments; you still need to contact the provider directly to make your recordings.
Elderly people who are struggling to get appointments can contact their local aging agency. You can find contact information for your local agency here. Or you can call 1-877-724-3258.
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