The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced on Tuesday Penn State s Bryce Jordan Center Johnson & Johnson vaccination clinic would be put on pause until further notice.
The temporary close comes after Gov. Tom Wolf announced a pause to administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Tuesday following reports of blood clots in six women across the U.S. According to Pennsylvania Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam, it is unlikely the blood clots occurred in the state.
Beam said the clinic will be closed until the Department of Health receives further guidance from the federal government.
The vaccine site opened in the BJC on April 9, and is directed by the Pennsylvania National Guard and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare, LCC. Around 600 doses per day were expected to be administered each day.
Pennsylvania is making every person 16 and older eligible to sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine starting Tuesday, Gov. Tom Wolf's administration announced Monday.
The goal is to get as many people vaccinated as possible as COVID variants threaten to slow progress made against the coronavirus.
“We need to maintain acceleration of the vaccine rollout, especially as case counts and hospitalization rates have increased,” Wolf said.
The state is urging every person to sign up and get a vaccine as quickly as possible.
“Everyone needs and should be afforded the opportunity to access the vaccine as soon as possible,” Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said. “And, this change provides earlier access for many, including college students increasing the likelihood of completion of two-dose regimens prior to leaving campus for the summer. It also means simpler, streamlined operations for vaccine providers that no longer need to check eligibility of people making appointments.”
Government, religious and medical leaders came together to discuss vaccine hesitancy among Muslims and other minority groups across the commonwealth in Allentown on Wednesday.
Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam joined leaders from St. Luke’s University Health Network, Rabiul Chowdhury of the Muslim Aid Initiative and Imam Mohammad Elshinawy of the Islamic Education Center of Pennsylvania to tackle the topic, which has been a focus of the department over the course of the past few months, at the Sacred Heart campus.
As of Thursday, 3,779,961 partial vaccinations and 2,125,826 full vaccinations have been administered in Pennsylvania.
With 442,310 first doses of the vaccine set to be sent to Pennsylvania from the federal government this week, Beam noted that questions will become more frequent, and that education is imperative to help in the goal to eliminate the pandemic.
Reaching vaccine holdouts brings Pa.’s acting health secretary to Lehigh Valley
Updated Apr 07, 2021;
Posted Apr 07, 2021
Pennsylvania Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam speaks Wednesday, April 7, 2021, at St. Luke’s Hospital-Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown about vaccine hesitancy among minority groups across the state.Courtesy photo | For lehighvalle
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It’s no secret that demand for coronavirus vaccines continues to outpace supply, nearly four months after the first shots went into Lehigh Valley arms in mid-December.
But as eligibility opens this week ahead of April 19, when all Pennsylvanians 16 and older can get the vaccine, the state’s acting health secretary on Wednesday visited Allentown to help win over those who are hesitant to join the ranks of the inoculated.