WellSpan Health launched an online sign-up portal for COVID-19 vaccines on Jan. 19, the same day Pennsylvania expanded the first phase of its vaccine rollout plan. Within 48 hours the health system had scheduled 45,000 appointments and shut down the portal.
Barry Millhouse was able to schedule a February appointment for his 78-year-old mother at WellSpan York Hospital. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in the past year and is considered high-risk.
Before reaching out to WellSpan, Millhouse contacted his motherâs doctors at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, where she had been previously hospitalized.
Their response left Millhouse frustrated and upset.
He said they told him they werenât going to be administering the vaccine to the public right now and that he should keep watching the news to see when and where to get vaccinated.
The stateâs interim rollout plan is currently in its fifth version.
No countywide plan or system has been announced to date on how vaccinations will work for people who are not medical professionals â there is no centralized point for information outside of some guidance on the Lancaster County government page.
The stateâs health department has been working closely with local departments of health to coordinate vaccine distributions and inoculations, building on the processes created since the pandemic response began in March.
However, because Lancaster County does not have a county health department, the responsibility to create a plan for vaccinations has primarily fallen to local hospital systems, other vaccine providers and community stakeholders.
As soon as Kenneth Hartenstine saw a tweet around noon Tuesday that COVID-19 vaccines are now available to Pennsylvanians over 65, he immediately went to the state’s website to confirm
Starting at 10 a.m. Thursday, the Lancaster Chamber and Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health will hold three free “town hall” meetings about the COVID-19 vaccine and its impact on the
Dr. Douglas Ockrymiek finally got the call he had been waiting for on Friday â it was his turn to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Ockrymiek, medical director at Behavioral Health Corporation in Lancaster, said he already had his name on several lists to receive the vaccine and was waiting.
âIn addition to being a health care worker, Iâm also 75,â Ockrymiek said. âI had told them that I was looking around to get it as soon as possible.â
On Friday, Ockrymiek was contacted by a representative of Lancaster Emergency Medical Services letting him know that it had received a supply of COVID-19 vaccines and he could be vaccinated on Monday.