Getting The COVID Vaccine In Bucks County: Updates

UPDATED 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 27

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — As of Monday morning, there had been 38,692 coronavirus cases reported in Bucks County and 1,025 COVID-related deaths, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

County health officials were working to distribute vaccines to members of the public, according to Pennsylvania's vaccination plan. This article will be updated as new information becomes available. Bookmark it and return to get all the latest on the COVID-19 vaccine in Bucks County.

Who's Already Vaccinated?

At noon Monday, 18,295 people in Bucks County had been partially vaccinated against COVID-19 and another 5,834 people had received both doses of the two-shot vaccine. Most of the vaccines have been given at Bucks County hospitals to their employees, or by pharmacists visiting the county's nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

Who Is Eligible To Get The Vaccine Now?

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

But state officials dramatically increased the number of Pennsylvanians eligible for the vaccine during the initial phase. Everyone 65 and older, along with residents 16 or older who have health conditions that put them at high risk from the virus immediately were made eligible, adding about 3.5 million Pennsylvania residents to the list of those eligible for the shots.

How To Sign Up

Bucks County has created an online hub for information on the coronavirus vaccine. The hub contains detailed information on who is eligible to be vaccinated under each of the state plan's four phases.

On Friday, the county added a form letting residents register for the vaccine. Once registered, residents will be contacted to schedule a vaccination appointment once sufficient supplies arrive, officials said. Those whose status changed on Tuesday will be shifted from the 1B list to the 1A list and do not need to register a second time, officials said.

Click Here To Register For A COVID-19 Vaccination In Bucks County

Anyone in Bucks County with internet access is encouraged to register for a vaccination online. But, for those who do not have internet access, there is another way. In Bucks County, residents may register for a vaccination by calling the county's coronavirus helpline at 1-800-383-0371.

Where To Get The Vaccine In Bucks County

As of Wednesday, there were no COVID-19 vaccine sites open to the public in Bucks County.

During the initial phase of the vaccine's rollout, most doses were administered at local hospitals to employees. Pharmacy teams also have been visiting nursing homes and other facilities to vaccinate eligible people.

The county has opened an appointment-only clinic in Langhorne where healthcare workers not affiliated with one of the county's hospitals have been receiving shots, but that clinic is not open to the public.

Currently, the county has opened COVID-19 testing sites on three Bucks County Community College campuses throughout the county. Those sites currently are not providing COVID vaccinations but county commissioners have said they plan to convert them to such early next month.

Commissioners also said at least two other vaccination sites are planned, though they have not been publicly identified. All five sites will be run through a partnership with AMI Expeditionary Healthcare, which has been running the BCCC testing sites.

In the past week, Bucks County hospitals began announcing they also will soon be giving the vaccine to members of the public. St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne now is accepting online registrations from people older than 65 and those 16 or older with existing health conditions.

The hospital said it plans to open up eligibility in the next several weeks.

Bucks County also plans to put together smaller teams to visit senior citizen communities, housing authority properties, locations that provide services to the homeless and other locations to administer vaccines, the commissioners said.

On Wednesday, eastern Pennsylvania's first public vaccination clinic opened in Lehigh County. The one-day clinic in Allentown was open to people 75 and older who had made appointments, as well as healthcare workers and first responders.

The clinic will open again when more vaccine arrives, officials said. Preregistration for appointments are available on the Lehigh Valley Health Network's website. Those who do not yet qualify to receive a vaccine are encouraged to register and get in line. The vaccine is free.

Vaccine Supply In Bucks Co.

Last week, county commissioners said the county does not currently have anywhere near enough vaccine to vaccinate the number of people now eligible under the new version of the state plan. They said supply chain issues with the federal and state government has slowed the supply here and called on those governments to get more vaccine to the county as quickly as possible.

Monday, as new infection numbers in the county continued to drop after the fall surge, county officials said they are "working diligently" to get more vaccine in Bucks County.

This availability of COVID-19 vaccines in Bucks County is a developing story. Patch will be updating this post as new information becomes available in the days and weeks ahead. Please return for more details as they become available.