Mount Nittany Health opened their online self-scheduling system for COVID-19 vaccination Friday, and available appointments ran out within the first hour, according to the health system.
Centre County residents scrambled to snatch up more than 2,000 Mount Nittany Health vaccination appointments for the first two weeks of February through the online system. The health system said the appointments will use all of the vaccine doses they currently have.
In a recorded video message, executive vice president Tom Charles said Mount Nittany Health expects to hear from the Department of Health on Monday, Feb. 1, about the next shipment of vaccines and plan to share that information on its website on Feb. 2.
“I want to remind you that future availability will be based on the information that we receive from the Department of Health regarding the amount of vaccine that we will be receiving and when that will be received,” Charles said.
He said the demand for vaccines “significantly exceeds” the supply and will for some time.
Pennsylvania is currently in Phase 1-A of its vaccine rollout plan, where healthcare professionals, people 65 or older, and those between 16 and 64 with high risk medical conditions are eligible to get vaccinated. As of Friday, 719,928 doses of vaccines have been administered and 173,328 Pennsylvanians are inoculated fully, according to the website of the Department of Health.
There were 28 COVID-19 inpatients at Mount Nittany Medical Center Friday, ranging from ages 13 to 96. Chief Medical Officer Nirmal Joshi said while hospitalizations remain high, the past several weeks have seen COVID-19 inpatient numbers trending lower.
