SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. – On Wednesday, cars lined the Dorney Park parking lot in front of a mass vaccination clinic.
It included two weeks of planning for Lehigh Valley Health Network to get the surgery going.
“We are very excited about that, we are happy that our community of 75 years and older is willing to participate in this type of effort,” said Dr. Alex Benjamin from LVHN.
LVHN is no stranger to running massive vaccination sites, as it holds a drive-thru flu clinic every year, but doctors say a COVID vaccination site still faces a few more hurdles.
Dr. Timothy Friel, infectious disease specialist at LVHN, said the biggest challenge was not knowing when they will be getting doses, or how much they will be getting.
“It makes planning massive vaccination campaigns like this one very, very challenging,” he told WFMZ’s Ali Reid.
There should also be a dedicated parking area where people have to wait the mandatory 15 minutes after receiving the vaccine.
All appointments for the drive-thru clinic filled up quickly, and LVHN plans to vaccinate about 1,000 people aged 75 and older.
All those who signed up were also given a follow-up appointment to receive their second dose of the Moderna vaccine within a few weeks.
“That’s really the only kind of promised vaccine that we are aware of at this point, according to the state. Second doses will be supported,” Benjamin said.
LVHN said it has the ability to vaccinate at least 5,000 daily, if enough supplies are available.
St. Luke’s Health Network also operates massive vaccination sites at its 11 hospital sites. A spokesperson says they can vaccinate up to 5,000 people a day, but the supply is limited for them too, so at the moment about 3,000 doses are administered daily.
“It’s frustrating and disappointing because we’ve all relied on the federal government in this process to make sure we have the vaccines,” Gov. Tom Wolf said at a news conference Tuesday.
About 4 million people in Pennsylvania are now eligible for the vaccine, in Group 1A, which means that 8 million doses should be rolled out in the first phase.
At the moment, the state is far behind.
“We have received about 1.5 million vaccines and since it is a two injection cycle, it means we have enough for about 750,000 Pennsylvanians,” said Wolf.