Bucks County Expected To Meet New Vaccine Timeline

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — State health officials announced Wednesday an accelerated schedule for COVID-19 vaccinations that will expand eligibility to everyone 16 years of age and older by April 19.

In response, Bucks County officials say they are on pace to meet the increased demand.

All of the 160,000 people eligible under Phase 1A who have pre-registered for a vaccine through the county's registration portal have been sent an email and/or called and text-messaged in an effort to get them scheduled, according to county spokesperson Larry King.

"Right now we are inviting anyone in 1A who still needs a vaccination, as well as those in the four categories opened yesterday by the state: law enforcement, firefighters, grocery store workers and food industry / farm workers," King said in an email Thursday.

On Tuesday, the rest of residents in phase 1B will be eligible, followed by residents in phase 1C on April 12. The vaccine will be available to the rest of the public by April 19, but state officials are cautioning that it could take weeks after that date before an appointment becomes available.

Click here for a general vaccine sign-up link in Bucks County.

The Bucks County Health Department expects to receive about 8,000 first doses of Pfizer vaccine each week from the state, along with new Johnson & Johnson doses that were previously set aside for southeastern regional vaccine sites, the plans for which were recently abandoned.

The county has four vaccination sites, which are located at the Bucks County Community College campuses in Newtown, Bristol and Perkasie and at the Neshaminy Mall in Bensalem. A fifth clinic is expected to open in Quakertown in the next week or so, King said.

Through Thursday, all Bucks County vaccine providers have administered nearly a quarter-million COVID-19 vaccination shots, a total of 240,434 doses, enough to fully vaccinate 83,266 people and partially vaccinate another 82,426, county officials said.

“Agencies and departments across Bucks County have worked hard on our vaccination efforts for many months," County Commissioner Bob Harvie said. "To date, the equivalent of 33 percent of Bucks County’s adult population has received at least one dose of vaccine through various providers, and the county itself is administering thousands of doses a day. We are looking forward to using this new allocation of vaccine to protect our residents and end this pandemic.”

Nearly 5.3 million people, or about one-third of Pennsylvanians, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, state health officials said Friday.

For full information about getting a coronavirus vaccine in Pennsylvania, visit Patch's information hub.