Phoenixville Hospital Receiving COVID-19 Vaccine Doses This Week

PHOENIXVILLE, PA —Phoenixville Hospital-Tower Health is among four hospitals in Chester County that will have doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine this week. The first to be vaccinated will be hospital staff caring directly for COVID-19 patients.

Three Tower Health hospitals will receive vaccines; Phoenixville Hospital, Jennersville Hospital, and Brandywine Hospital. In addition to the three Tower Health facilities, Chester County Hospital-Penn Medicine in West Chester is also receiving vaccine doses.

Tower Health said today that those receiving the vaccine first will include direct care providers as well as other healthcare workers in roles such as environmental services, transport, security, and food services. That decision is in accordance with state and federal health agency recommendations, a Tower Health spokesperson said.

Phoenixville Borough has reported 490 cases of COVID-19, with 2.89 percent of its population having tested positive for the disease. The borough has had 23 deaths from COVID-19, according to the Chester County Department of Health.

Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine announced on Monday that Pennsylvania would receive 97,500 vaccine doses this week to be distributed at 83 hospitals across the state.

It remains uncertain how many doses Tower Health will receive. "We won’t know until we actually begin receiving the vaccine. It is possible the number of doses we receive could be less than the number of employees who want the vaccine," Tower Health told Patch this morning.

"For that reason, we are following CDC and PA Department of Health (DOH) guidelines for prioritizing distribution of the doses. For example, the DOH has identified healthcare workers as among those who should receive doses during Tier 1. For Tower Health, depending on the number of doses we receive and following DOH guidelines, we will prioritize those staff caring directly for COVID-19 patients, in both clinical and support roles."

Tower Health said vaccinating will begin within 48 hours of one of its hospitals receiving its allocation of doses, noting that not every Tower Health hospital may receive the vaccine on the same day. Receiving the vaccine will not be mandatory, but Tower Health said it is encouraging its employees to get the vaccine as it becomes available.

The vaccine will be free to hospital employees. It normally takes about two to three weeks for cellular immunity to develop and several weeks for a full antibody response, Tower Health said.

The state department of health said Monday that another shipment of the Pfizer vaccine is expected next week, but exact amounts are not yet known.

The current COVID-19 vaccines are required to be kept at an extremely low temperature and must be stored in a specially designed ultra-low temperature freezer. Tower Health explained it has purchased four of these freezers and they have been installed at Reading Hospital, Brandywine Hospital, Chestnut Hill Hospital, and Phoenixville Hospital.

The freezer at Brandywine will support Jennersville Hospital, while the one at Phoenixville will support Pottstown Hospital, according to Tower Health.

Each hospital will establish a COVID Vaccination Clinic to administer the vaccine to employees. Hospitals holding the vaccine in storage will deliver the necessary doses to those hospitals without specialized freezers, a news release explained.

Tower Health said today, "When we receive additional doses of the vaccine, and following guidance from health authorities, we will develop plans to participate in broader vaccination of our patients and eventually members of the community. This may not be until sometime later in 2021."

All employees who receive the vaccine will still be required to wear face masks, practice proper hand hygiene, and social distancing per CDC guidance, Tower Health said. "We will continue to evaluate the recommendations from the CDC and the PA DOH and keep you informed of any updates to this guidance."

Pfizer's is not the only vaccine that Tower Health anticipates distributing in the near future.

"We understand the Moderna vaccine might also receive Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA in the near future and could be available thereafter," said Tower Health.

Other vaccines in different stages of development are from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Inovio, Novavax, and Sanofi/GlaxoSmithKline.

"Over time it is possible we will receive different amounts of each vaccine as they are authorized for use," a Tower Health spokesperson said this morning.

According to Tower Health, both Pfizer and Moderna are reporting approximately 95 percent efficacy in the prevention of COVID-19. Researchers compared how many in the vaccinated group and the placebo group went on to develop the disease. The vaccinated group had a much lower rate of infection than the placebo group. The companies will continue to test people in the studies for antibodies to the COVID-19 virus, which would include people who did not show any symptoms of infection, so they can get a better sense of whether or not the vaccines protect against infection.

A Tower Health statement said vaccines do not cause COVID-19 and will not cause anyone to test positive for the disease. "If your body develops an immune response, which is the goal of vaccination, it is possible you may test positive on some antibody tests. Antibody tests indicate you had a previous infection or vaccination and that you may have some level of protection against the virus," Tower Health said.

"Whether people will need an annual COVID-19 vaccine is a question still being studied. We anticipate having more information after the vaccine is more widely distributed and additional data becomes available," the statement said.

Even with a vaccine, the COVID-19 pandemic will not end immediately. The COVID-19 vaccine is not expected to be widely available globally until later in 2021. Even then, a majority of individuals in a community will need to receive the vaccine to lower the spread of the virus. It is important that we all continue to wear masks, practice proper hand hygiene, and continue social distancing.

Additional information can be found on the Pennsylvania Department of Health website.

Jennersville Hospital is located near Chester County's two communities with the highest COVID-19 case concentration per the population; Avondale Borough and Kennett Square Borough, both with more than 5 percent of their population having tested positive for COVID-19 as of Dec. 14. Avondale has had 78 positive cases, Kennett Square, 318.

Brandywine Hospital in Coatesville is located near the next two highest case concentrations in Chester County; South Coatesville Borough and the City of Coatesville, whose percentage of positive COVID-19 cases is just under 5 percent. South Coatesville reports 67 cases, and the City of Coatesville has had 595 cases reported.

"The logistics of the vaccine distribution are complicated and the degree of coordination among federal, state, and local levels of government required for this enormous undertaking is unprecedented," Levine said.

With reporting by Eric Heyl