Montco Shuts Down COVID Vaccine Clinics Over Shortage, Weather

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — Montgomery County will shut down its COVID-19 vaccine clinics this week due to a continued shortage of supplies and the incoming inclement weather, officials announced Thursday.

The Norristown Area High School mass vaccination clinic, which administers first doses, will be closed on both Thursday and Friday. The Montgomery County Community College site in Blue Bell, which is still administering second doses, will be shut down on Thursday.

Residents are automatically rescheduled when clinics are shut down, and they will be contacted by the county with their updated appointment time.

Thursday appointments at Montgomery County Community College have been rescheduled for Monday at Norristown Area High School.

"Thus far, we have not received any additional first dose vaccine this week," Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh said on Wednesday. "We have been told that we will receive some more." The next shipment is scheduled to arrive on Friday.

The clinics will both be open on Monday.

It's the second week in a row that a shortage of vaccine has led the county to close their vaccination clinics.

This is despite the state saying that county health departments would be receiving larger shipments of supplies, as they introduced plans to reduced vaccine providers statewide from 1,700 to around 200.

While there is definitely more vaccine coming, it could be eight weeks until these "dramatic increases" are realized, officials said Wednesday. Between now and then, the amount received each week will be variable and unpredictable.

"We are getting tiny amounts of vaccine into the county each week" in comparison to the need, Arkoosh reiterated.

The county has 2,337 first doses remaining in hand. It can administer roughly 1,000 doses per day.

All told, the county has administered 70,578 total first doses, and 24,287 full doses, as of Wednesday afternoon.

On Wednesday, the state said that thousands of first doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine had been given as second doses, leading to tens of thousands of delayed appointments. The county is switching over to the Pfizer vaccine next week, so it will no longer be the reliant on the Moderna vaccine.

More than 151,000 seniors remain in the 1A category, in addition to healthcare workers. The wait line has now grown to 165,320.

This is a breaking story. More information will be provided as it becomes available.