Mount Nittany Health announced that starting Friday of next week community members who meet the state's eligibility guidelines will be able to go online to mountnittany.org/coronavirus to schedule COVID-19 vaccines.
Mount Nittany said, so far, they’ve been approved for about 2,000 doses, and they urged community members to be patient as the supply of vaccines allocated by the federal government to Pennsylvania continues to be limited. The goal is to start offering the vaccines in the first week of February.
“As soon as future vaccine shipments are received, our plan is to offer large scale vaccination clinics to the community, to anyone who meets the current eligibility requirements. You do not need to be a patient of Mount Nittany to take advantage of these clinics," said Tom Charles, executive vice president of Mount Nittany Health.
Earlier in January, the state Department of Health expanded eligibility to include those 65 and older and those with certain conditions, including cancer, sickle cell disease, down syndrome, obesity and smokers.
Initially, the state had been targeting health care workers, along with long term care facility residents. An online guide lets you see if you're eligible.
Charles cautioned that the number of people eligible far exceeds the supply.
“That’s the case locally. It’s the case at the state level. It’s the case nationally. And, we expect this to be the situation for the foreseeable future,” he said.
Mount Nittany notes that it is finishing vaccinating more than 3,400 health care personnel in Centre County through the remainder of January. That will use up the vaccine supply it has gotten.
Mount Nittany is encouraging people interested to check its website for updates rather than calling.
The state Department of Health lists who qualifies for the various phases of the vaccine rollout.
