Mount Nittany Medical Center in Centre County is one of the hospitals in central Pennsylvania slated to get its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines this week as the state rolls out plans to distribute the vaccines.
“We have formed a task force that has been preparing for the shipment and has developed a plan for distributing the vaccines to our healthcare staff," said Mount Nittany Health’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nirmal Joshi.
Mount Nittany is one of 87 hospitals across the state that will be getting the Pfizer vaccines. Only facilities with the needed cold storage can get the vaccines, which have to be kept at negative 94 degrees Fahrenheit.
The state Department of Health announced Monday that Pennsylvania is slated to get 97,500 doses — not including Philadelphia. The state said the first doses are being given to health care workers through hospitals.
Other hospitals scheduled to receive vaccines include Conemaugh Nason Medical Center in Roaring Spring; Penn Highlands in Huntingdon, DuBois and St. Marys; and UPMC in Altoona and Kane.
The Pfizer vaccine is the first one to get the needed emergency approval.
It comes as the number of cases and hospitalizations in Pennsylvania has been climbing rapidly. Cases reached almost half a million Monday.
The state says another 85 hospitals will receive shipments by next Monday.
