McKean County is back on the map for COVID-19 vaccine distribution, and the plan for April looks busy.
Two locations in McKean County, Bradford Regional Medical Center (BRMC) and UPMC-Kane, are slated to receive deliveries of the vaccine on an alternating weekly basis. With the planned shipments for the month, McKean County stands to double the number of partially or fully vaccinated people from approximately 4,000 to nearly 9,000 by the end of April.
McKean County Commission Tom Kreiner shared details of a late evening phone call on Wednesday with the state Department of Health with media outlets Thursday. He announced that he was told of the plan for shipments.
“Pfizer must be shipped in trays of 1,170 so we are potentially going to be receiving more than the criteria set of 900 per week by DOH,” said Kreiner. “The 900 per week goal is the calculation to keep us at pace with other counties, and right now this plan will put us ahead of schedule.”
Kreiner explained that the Pfizer doses will be shipped to McKean County each week, on an alternate schedule to Bradford Regional Medical Center and UPMC-Kane.
“We are very grateful to the McKean County Commissioners, State Rep. Martin Causer, the McKean County EMA, Sen. Cris Dush, Gov. Tom Wolf and the PA Department of Health who helped secure additional COVID vaccine for our region,” said Dr. William Mills, Chief Medical Officer for Upper Allegany Health System, which includes Bradford Regional Medical Center and Olean General Hospital. “We look forward to the additional shipments to BRMC and UPMC Kane so we can continue offering vaccination clinics for our community. The timing is particularly helpful as Pennsylvania is set to open vaccine eligibility to phase 1B on April 5, phase 1C April 12 and to all state residents 16 years of age and older April 19.”
The first shipment is scheduled to arrive at BRMC the week of April 5, while the second shipment is slated to arrive at UPMC-Kane the week of April 12.
Kreiner further explained the schedule, noting that subsequent shipments to each facility of two trays of vaccine, or 2,340 doses, will be sent the weeks of April 16 and April 26. These will be alloted to administer the follow up 1,170 second dose shots and also to make available another 1,170 first dose shots, each week.
“Being offered these doses by DOH is a game changer,” said Commissioner Carol Duffy. “The willingness of each facility to step up to accept these quantities was vital. We have committed the resources established by our Emergency Management Agency for this very purpose and so far, volunteers have been the backbone of the success of this operation.”
Anyone who would like to be on the waiting list to be vaccinated with the two-dose Pfizer vaccine should register with the medical facility directly or with McKean County’s Call Center at 814-887-3443. Officials ask that residents please do not call BRMC as the hospital will not be accepting registrations.
“We are tentatively planning to hold a community vaccination clinic next week at the former St. Bernard’s school where we held a clinic in March and are grateful for the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford for offering the use of their building,” Mills said. “Once we receive confirmation that the vaccine will arrive and we have an online registration link and firm date/time, we will share the information with the public. We’ll once again work with the county EMA and our nursing staff to secure volunteers for upcoming clinics.”
Meanwhile, UPMC officials state the hospital facilities are prepared to vaccinate all adults throughout the communities it serves.
“We fully expected the commonwealth to increase the number of people eligible to receive the vaccine,” said Dr. Donald Yealy, UPMC’s chief medical officer and chair of emergency medicine. “We want everyone who wants a vaccine to get one as quickly and as easily as possible.”
UPMC continues to vaccinate those in phase 1A who registered to receive the vaccine. The interest in vaccination remains high and UPMC will hold more vaccination clinics to meet the need.
“The commonwealth is giving us both notice of deliveries and shipping more vaccine to us recently,” Yealy said. “We’ll schedule as far forward as we can, based on these notices. We want everyone to have the comfort of knowing when you arrive to get vaccinated, we’ll have that vaccine here for you.”
While the news of scheduled shipments is encouraging, Yealy cautioned the public to continue to be patient. He encouraged them to show patience when scheduling the vaccine and also to remember we have not seen the last of the pandemic. Instead, adhering to masking, social distancing and handwashing protocols remains important.
The public can register to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at Vaccine.UPMC.com.
Registration can be done by contacting McKean County’s Call Center at 814-887-3443 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. According to EMA Director Tracy Carl, having a volunteer force is more important than ever for the success of this vaccination initiative.
“I can’t say enough about the quality and commitment of our volunteers, starting back in January with the mobile testing, staffing a mass vaccination clinic in February and working the phone lines in March,” said Carl. “Here in McKean County, our communities pull together in a crisis and we are fortunate to have this resource.”
Anyone who can assist with the phone lines on Tuesdays and Thursdays or assist at a clinic should email mckeandes@mckeancountypa.org.
