The Latest Montgomery County COVID-19 Vaccine Updates

NORRISTOWN, PA — It was a difficult week in the coronavirus vaccine campaign in Montgomery County, as the county received drastically fewer doses this week, forcing it to shut down its vaccination clinic. But there is good news, too, as the state has announced sweeping changes that should help local providers distribute shots more efficiently.

Case counts throughout the county continue to steadily drop, a trend that's been ongoing for most of 2021. However, four more cases of the United Kingdom variant of the virus were found in the county this week, and officials are confident the numbers are actually much higher.

Only individuals in the 1A priority category, which includes healthcare workers and residents over the age of 65, as well as those between 16 and 64 with severe underlying conditions, can receive a vaccine.

RELATED: Getting A COVID-19 Vaccine In PA: This Week's Updates

Here are the latest vaccine updates, and what you need to know about how to get your doses in Montgomery County:

How To Sign Up

You can pre-register for a vaccine appointment here if you are in the 1A group.

Due to limited supplies, it may be up to 12 weeks before you hear back about confirming an appointment. Don't panic; if you pre-registered, your name is in the system.

Where are you in line?

Anywhere from 1,300 to 2,700 new registrants have signed up for a vaccine every day in the county in recent weeks. To find where you are in line, you can compare the date you registered to these statistics on daily new registrants.

Wait line grows to 153K, as clinic temporarily closed.

The wait line to receive a vaccine in the county now includes 153,502 pre-registered individuals in the 1A category. That's an increase of around 13,000 from just a week ago, meaning that many more people are signing up than are being vaccinated.

The county continues to be reliant on supplies from the state, which dwindled the past two weeks due to a growing number of providers statewide (more on that below). The county's mass vaccine site at Norristown Area High School shut down for the remainder of the week because it ran out of first doses. It will reopen Monday.

What is the county doing to improve the process?

To help address the confusion and assuage lingering doubts and frustration, the county has launched a few new tools.

One of them is a new COVID-19 hotline which residents can call and ask questions about the vaccine. It's especially being touted as useful for the county's seniors, who may not have access to the Internet.

The number is 833-875-3967. It also features Spanish speaking agents, and language line support for more than 100 other languages. It will be operational from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

A second tool the county is launching is a weekly email blast that will be disbursed out to everyone who has pre-registered. The email will provide an update on vaccination progress, and what registrants can expect when it's their turn.

What is the state doing?

Friday, the state announced significant policy changes, dramatically reduced the total number of providers who will receive vaccine. While that number had been as high as 1,700 providers earlier this week, it will be "progressively" decreased to around 200 to 300 in the coming weeks, officials said.

"The provider network will be limited to those who have demonstrated success," Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said.

County health departments will be prioritized under the new scheme, which means Montgomery County should expect an increase in doses in the near future.

County officials continue to argue that larger providers, like county health departments, can more efficiently distribute vaccine than smaller providers. But the state believes that private healthcare systems also have infrastructure in place that should be capitalized upon. So while the number of private providers will be significantly limited to the strongest performing healthcare systems and pharmacies in the weeks, they will continue to play a role. "We really see this as an opportunity to allow them to align further," Beam added.

Are people cheating?

Yes, and the county is working on ways to prevent that from happening.

Line jumpers are a "growing" problem in Montgomery County, due to the nature of the current registration system used by the county, PrepMod. Individuals who sign up to receive a vaccine in the county are sent a generalized link to register when it's their turn.

Because links are not unique, there have been a number of cases where an individual sends a link to a family member, friend, or even posted it on social media. Often, these line jumpers are not even in the 1A priority group.

The county says they are working on making these registration links "single use," so that if someone attempts to share the link, it won't work.

Counties across the state, including Montgomery, meet with PrepMod on a weekly basis to discuss these issues. Thus far, a solution has not been found. The software was originally designed as a registration tool for medical offices — which worked smoothly when it was mainly medical offices being vaccinated in the early weeks — but has run into glitches as the inoculation program has expanded.

"The problem is one that has been growing," Arkoosh said.

In addition to working on fixes, the county is considering entirely new systems to replace this one, as well.

Who is eligible to get the vaccine now?

Montgomery County, like the rest of Pennsylvania, remains in Phase 1A of the state's four-phase rollout of the coronavirus vaccine. Originally, that meant the only people eligible for a vaccine were healthcare workers and residents and employees of nursing homes and other care facilities.

The state's new "YourTurn" online tool aims to help residents find out where they stand within the state's vaccine priority groups.

Why are teachers and police officers still unable to get the vaccine?

Teachers, police officers, and other essential workers are in the 1B category. The state, when pressed on the issue, says they remain committed to vaccinating all of 1A first.

Numerous Pennsylvania education associations, including conglomerates of school boards, rural and small schools, principals, administrators, and the State Education Association, penned a letter to Gov. Wolf this week urging school staff to be placed on priority lists for the vaccine.

“Ensuring that the men and women who teach and serve Pennsylvania’s children receive the vaccine as soon as possible is absolutely essential if we are to reopen our state’s schools for in-person instruction and return to normal operations when the 2021-22 school year begins," the letter reads.

The letter goes on to note that 26 other states currently prioritize school staff members in the vaccination plans, but not Pennsylvania.

When will the vaccine be available to the general public?

Officials have no updated estimate as to when the state may be ready to move into the 1B phase, though they reiterated hopes previously expressed by Gov. Tom Wolf that the vaccine could be available to the general public by spring or summer.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, however, said this week on the Today show that April could be "open season" for the vaccine, with the potential of availability for all groups by then.

There are some 250,000 individuals in the 1A category in Montgomery County.

Be the first to know what's happening in your town and area. Sign up to get Patch emails and don't miss a minute of local and state news: https://patch.com/subscribe