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Hall F of the Pennsylvania Convention Center is becoming known as the most important hall in Philadelphia.
Home to the city’s vote-counting operation that helped decide the election two months ago, the vast exhibition hall on 12th and Arch Streets now houses the first COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Philly’s mass community.
Divided into zones that optimize the 125,000 square foot space for safety and efficiency, the facility is being managed by the staff behind Philly Fighting COVID, in partnership with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.
The nonprofit organization, known as PFC, has also launched the city’s first registration site, where philadelphiaers who want to be vaccinated can enter their information in advance.
“We have all been through a lot. But now we have a chance to make the future better, ”says PFC on its website. “The best way to keep up to date on when your turn will come is to commit to vaccination here.”
On Friday morning, the Convention Center began inoculating the city’s 15,000 home health professionals, a subset of the “phase 1a” group, along with the hospital and other medical staff.
The clinic’s goal is to help speed up the launch of the vaccine, which has been slower than expected across the country. Earlier this week, Philadelphia had used only 40% of its supply, said health commissioner Tom Farley. Asked about the delay, Farley blamed the startups’ logistics, the recent holidays and the lack of funding from the federal government.
“There will be some initial process for setting up this stock,” he said on Tuesday. “All of this is being done … by a public health system that has received zero federal funds for the dissemination of the vaccine.”
The new aid package approved by Congress earns $ 8 billion for vaccines, but the money has not yet gone to cities and states.
Philly Fighting COVID estimates that the Center City pop-up will be able to inoculate between 100 and 450 people every hour, for a total of 1k to 4.5k people a day.
That would be a big boost. Currently, vaccines are applied to an average of about 1,500 Philadelphia residents a day, according to data from the health department.
If that rate remains the same, said Commissioner Farley, it could take until the end of 2021 for the entire city to be vaccinated. Hence the pop-up clinic, the first of several planned PFCs. When Philadelphia receives enough doses to go beyond health professionals and move on to the next phase, you can be vaccinated there.
The best way to get inside? Apply online for the PFC edition of COVIDreadi, the federal government portal for planning the distribution of vaccines. To clarify, this specific site is only for Philadelphia, and does not reserve a place in the queue.
When you enter your information – including name, contact information, date of birth, zip code, profession and family members – you are not exactly “registering”, as you are not making an appointment and do not receive confirmation of the vaccination date.
By pre-committing, you will:
- Help PFC and the city decide where to create clinics – accelerating implementation
- Receive an alert when people in your phase are welcome for vaccines
- Receive regular updates on the status of vaccine administration across the city
The distribution of vaccines in Philadelphia is being prioritized in the following phases, which follow the CDC guidelines:
Phase 1a: Healthcare professionals and employees, including home health professionals, paramedics and volunteers at COVID test centers, as well as residents of long-term care facilities (this is being handled by pharmacies that travel directly to nursing homes).
Phase 1b: Essential high-risk workers / critical infrastructure workers not covered by Phase 1a, such as police, firefighters, teachers, grocery workers, prison officers, postal workers, transit workers – as well as people in congregated environments, such as facilities correctional, behavioral health facilities and shelters.
Phase 1c: People aged 65 and over who live at home.
Phase 2: Essential workers at moderate risk and people at high risk of serious morbidity and mortality, including people with chronic diseases.
Phase 3: All remaining Philadelphia.