Bucks Co. Vaccine Clinics To Open Tuesday At College Campuses

BUCKS COUNTY — COVID-19 vaccine clinics will open next week at the three Bucks County Community College campuses, county officials announced Thursday.

The clinics will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, at the campuses in Bristol, Newtown and East Rockhill townships by appointment only. Each clinic will administer 200 doses per day, offered to people who fall in the 1A phase and have signed up through the county's pre-registration site, according to Audrey Kenny, Interim Emergency Management Services Director.

County officials announced the clinics during a news conference Thursday, where they also addressed ongoing frustrations from residents anxiously awaiting their turn for the first dose of the vaccine. Commissioners said the biggest obstacle to getting residents the COVID-19 vaccine is a lack of supply.

"We are doing everything we can," Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia said in a news conference Thursday. "We can't get vials of vaccine that haven't been made yet."

RELATED: Bucks Co. Hospitals Now Vaccinating Eligible Patients

Commissioner Bob Harvie said that other counties are facing the issue, noting that Montgomery County was forced to shut down its mass vaccination clinic this week after they ran out of doses.

The county is also contracting with a company called AMI Expeditionary Healthcare, which is providing the county with registration desk help and clinical support, Kenny said.

About 86 percent of vaccine doses that come into the county have gone to pharmacies and hospitals and not the county itself, Commissioner Bob Harvie said.

"The frustration is that the state expanded the eligibility for 1A without having enough vaccine available," Bucks County Health Director David Damsker said. "It’s frustrating for everyone. If people are angry about it, I understand, people are afraid, but we can only give the number of vaccine that we have. We’re giving out as much as we can give out."

The county averaged fewer than 200 new coronavirus cases per day last week, the lowest number since November, while COVID-related deaths and hospitalizations also continue to decline, Damsker noted.

A total of 1,071 people have died in Bucks County from COVID-19, according to the state health department. State vaccination figures show 34,740 people have received partial vaccinations in the county, the fourth-highest county total in the state.

The state launched a new tool earlier this week called YourTurn to help residents find their place in line.

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