Delaware County can now offer Johnson & Johnson vaccines to its residents instead of people traveling to a state-run mass vaccination center, writes Justine McDaniel and Erin McCarthy for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health is scrapping plans for two mass vaccination clinics in Philadelphia’s collar counties. Instead, it will divide 42,000 single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses weekly between Delaware, Montgomery, Chester and Bucks counties.
The state altered its plans after President Joe Biden urged states to ensure that 90 percent of adults will be eligible for a vaccine on April 19.
Demand has also gone down within Pennsylvania as more people complete vaccinations.
“We need to expand Pennsylvania’s eligibility immediately,” Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam said. “to, again, really keep the urgency behind the vaccination administration effort and allow us to vaccinate as many folks as possible.”
All Pennsylvanians 16 and older will be eligible for the vaccine April 19, with many able to make appointments sooner.
The 1B group will be eligible April 5 and 1C eligible April 12.
Seniors, people with high-risk conditions, health care workers and others in phase 1A remain eligible.
Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about changes in the vaccination distribution
