Montco Plans Special Clinics To Get Vaccine To The Underserved

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — Montgomery County has put in place several community partnerships in order to expand access to the vaccine to underserved populations, and they have plans to open further special clinics for these groups as well.

The county continues to urge residents to self-identify with racial and ethnic information. Tens of thousands of people, toughly one in three of everyone in the county who has received a vaccine, has declined to provide these details, officials said Wednesday.

Using this data is how authorities ensure that there is equal access to the vaccine.

"I understand that this is sensitive data, especially in these times," Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh said. "This is the way we can be sure we're not leaving anyone behind in our vaccination efforts."

RELATED: With 10K Doses Incoming, Montco Expects To Complete 1A In A Month

To get the vaccine into underserved communities, where a wide variety of issues like poverty, less Internet access, and skepticism are holding back administrations, the county has planned special clinics.

In Pottstown, there will be a weekly clinic at Bethel Community Church, alongside their weekly food distribution. The church serves a community with a large African-American and Latino population.

Another site is planned in Norristown.

Smaller, focused clinics have already been operating in recent weeks through partnerships with Skippack Pharmacy, East Norriton Pharmacy, and others. For two Sundays in a row, a clinic at North Penn High School has vaccinated more than 3,000 residents.

Suburban Hospital and Holy Redeemer health systems are also running pop-up clinics.

On Wednesday, the county touted the work of their mobile vaccination unit, which has been used to drive the vaccine to lower income senior living communities, where many residents do not have Internet or reliable transportation.

More than 700 individuals have been vaccinated through the mobile unit in about a month's time, at 37 different locations. The unit will soon return to those 37 sites for second doses.

To get that unit up and running, the county purchased a van with CARES Act funding and outfitted it with refrigeration units.

These vulnerable populations can be more easily vaccinated with the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which Montgomery County will be receiving shipments of weekly, the state announced Wednesday. The increased shipments will significantly accelerate the vaccine timeline, and the county expects to complete all of 1A in about a month's time.