3 Bucks Co. Hospitals To Get COVID-19 Vaccine This Week

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — More than 100,000 doses of the Pfizer-BionNtech COVID-19 vaccine are set to arrive in Pennsylvania this week as coronavirus cases continue to surge throughout the commonwealth.

Philadelphia will receive about 10 percent of those doses, with the remaining 97,000 shots distributed to 87 hospitals in 66 other counties, including Doylestown Hospital, Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol and St. Mary's Medical Center in Langhorne, Bucks County officials announced Tuesday morning.

Bucks County Health Department Director Dr. David Damsker said he expects all of the county's hospitals to receive vaccine doses in subsequent shipments.

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Healthcare workers are the first in line to receive the doses, followed by EMS first responders, staff at long-term care facilities and vulnerable populations.

“This is a pivotal development in the fight against COVID-19, in Pennsylvania and the nation,” State Health Secretary Rachel Levine said. “This limited supply of vaccine signals the start of the process to end COVID-19’s devastating impacts on every community in the commonwealth.”

Bucks County reported a record 3,366 new infections last week, with an average of 481 new cases per day. Forty-five deaths were attributed to COVID during November and 60 for the first 12 days of December.

The deaths reported last week involved people ranging in age from 51 to 100, with seven in their 90s, nine in their 90s, 19 in their 70s, five in their 60s and four in their 50s. Twenty-four of them were residents of long-term care facilities.

The county's test positivity rate climbed to 17.7 percent, up from 15.3 percent the previous week. It remains higher than the statewide positivity rate of 16.2 percent, which increased from 14.4 percent the week before.

Eighty-four COVID patients were hospitalized in Bucks County as of Saturday, eight of them on ventilators. Despite a surge in cases, ample bed space and ventilators remain available at local hospitals, county officials said.

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