NORRISTOWN, PA – During their virtual COVID-19 briefing today, the Montgomery County Commissioners announced that its first dose clinics will be closed on Thursday, February 18, and Friday, February 19 due to a combination of decreased supply and forecasts for inclement weather. An updated clinic schedule is listed below.
"You may have heard today's announcement regarding a statewide shortage of the Moderna vaccine from the Pennsylvania Health Department. We have been told that we will not receive a sufficient amount of second dose Moderna vaccine to cover the 5,279 people scheduled for second doses next week." said Dr. Valerie A. Arkoosh, Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. "I want to reassure anyone who is expecting to receive a second dose next week that if we are not able to offer you a second dose next week, we will contact you and schedule you for a future date. We will ensure that this future date is within the CDC maximum approved interval of 42 days."
The Montgomery County Office of Public Health vaccination clinics will operate on the following schedule due to supply shortages and inclement weather:
- Thursday, February 18, 2021 – Both Norristown Area High School and Montgomery County Community College clinics will be CLOSED due to inclement weather. Anyone scheduled for Thursday will be moved to Monday, February 22.
- Friday, February 19, 2021 - Norristown Area High School clinic CLOSED (first doses), Montgomery County Community College clinic (second doses) to OPEN pending weather forecast.
- Monday, February 22, 2021 – Both Norristown Area High School and Montgomery County Community College clinics OPEN (second doses)
- Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - Schedule pending, please check the COVID-19 website for updates.
If appointments need to change due to weather, anyone with an appointment will be automatically rescheduled and emailed. You will receive two emails from the name “Vaccination Clinics” at
no-reply@multistatep4p.com. The first email will tell you the date and time of your rescheduled appointment. The second email will tell you that your original appointment was canceled.
COVID-19 Vaccine Updates: Due to the limited supply of vaccine at this time, only people who qualify for Phase 1A will be given appointments. This includes people ages 65 and older and people ages 18-64 with specific underlying medical conditions known to be associated with severe cases of COVID-19. Appointment slots are limited and are available by reservation only. Walk-up registration is not accepted. To learn more about the 1A criteria or to pre-register for an appointment, visit www.montcopa.org/covid-19vaccine.
To date, there are over 165,000 people pre-registered to receive vaccine through the Montgomery County Office of Public Health (OPH). At this time and depending on when you registered, it may take up to 12 weeks before registrants hear back from the County about scheduling an appointment as the County is booking appointments to match its supply of the vaccine.
Residents can check their status at the County's vaccine status page. This page lists the number of requests by date of registration. Montgomery County is currently booking appointments for those who pre-registered on or before January 13, 2021.
Montgomery County COVID-19 Hotline: A COVID-19 hotline is available for general questions about COVID-19 and the vaccine. The number to call is (833) 875-3967. The Montgomery County COVID-19 hotline is operational six days a week, Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with live operators that can answer general COVID-19 questions. In addition, the hotline has language line support for over 100+ different languages.
County-run Vaccination Clinics: County vaccine clinics run Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Appointments are required to receive the vaccine. Registrants will be assigned a location. There is no option to choose where you receive the vaccine. No walk-up registration is accepted. Currently, Montgomery County has two vaccination clinics:
- Montgomery County Community College – Blue Bell, PA
- Norristown Area High School – Norristown, PA
As more vaccine doses become available, more appointment slots and vaccination clinics will be opened. The public should not call these sites directly, they are hosting the clinics and have no information on vaccine distribution.
Vaccine Pre-registration with Other Providers: There are a number of pharmacies and other providers in the County and region that are receiving the vaccine. Residents can look these up on the PA Department of Health (DOH) vaccine provider map as they change weekly. Each site has its own registration process that is separate from the County. The Montgomery County OPH does not distribute vaccines to these locations and does not have any control over how the vaccine is distributed. The PA DOH distributes the vaccine directly to them. Wherever a resident goes to receive their first dose of vaccine is where they need to go to get their second dose.
COVID-19 Testing Sites Schedule: Montgomery County COVID-19 testing sites are open various hours each weekday at six locations across the County weather permitting. Testing is available to anyone who lives, works or goes to school in Montgomery County. Appointments can be made on weekdays starting at 7 a.m. online or starting at 8:30 a.m. by calling (610) 970-2937.
COVID-19 Cases & Data: A full breakdown of all Montgomery County COVID-19 cases can be found on the COVID-19 Data Hub. The Hub hosts the County’s COVID-19 maps, data, and charts that show the number of daily cases and deaths related to COVID-19, including hospitalizations and ventilator use. There is also demographic information on cases by age, gender and race. For all other COVID-19 resources in Montgomery County, please visit https://www.montcopa.org/COVID-19.
COVID-19 Virtual Media Briefings: The next press briefing on COVID-19 mitigation efforts will be held Wednesday, February 24, at 1:30 p.m. A link for media to register will be announced through a media advisory. It will be streamed live to the public on Montgomery County’s Facebook page and a recording will be uploaded on the County’s Public Safety YouTube channel.