Montgomery County's two existing mass vaccination clinics remain on track with first and second dose clinics. The
Montgomery County Office of Public Health (OPH) received all necessary second doses for this week, and its first dose clinics are running smoothly administering the Pfizer vaccine. Vaccine supply coming to Montgomery County OPH increased slightly this week. Over the next four weeks, OPH will receive at least 5,850 doses of Pfizer for first dose clinics. This is an increase of about 1,000 doses per week.
"With this increase in vaccine, we are able to open our third mass vaccination site in Willow Grove. The site will be operational starting this Friday," said Dr. Valerie A. Arkoosh, Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. "This is welcome news because now anyone who gets an appointment with us will be able to choose the location where they go to receive their vaccine. This will make it easier for people to find a location that is closest to them."
This week the Governor
announced a lifting of certain targeted restrictions on restaurants and other businesses, as well as increased gathering limits effective April 4. Montgomery County will comply with these new guidelines, however, residents should continue to wear masks and social distance. Similarly, business adherence to all safety orders are still imperative during this time. The importance of this is underscored by the fact that Montgomery County now has confirmation of 24 cases of the B.117 variant. Residents and businesses are encouraged to check the COVID-19 Guidance page for the latest updates at
https://www.montcopa.org/COVID-19Guidance.
MontcoStrong 2021 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program: The Commissioners also reminded hospitality industry businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19 that they can apply for up to $50,000 in grant funding through the
MontcoStrong 2021 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program. 209 applications have been received to date.
"This is not a first come, first served program. Grants will be awarded on a rolling basis and the application window will remain open until grant funds are fully allocated," said Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr., Vice Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. "We want to encourage everyone to take your time and allow enough time to fill out your application completely."
Montgomery County has received approximately $9.4 million in state funding to provide grants to eligible businesses. The eligibility, application requirements, and program design were all developed from Senate Bill 109 known as Act 1 of 2021. Grant awards will be in increments from $5,000 to $50,000. Applicants will be required to submit documentation of expenses incurred and paid during the eligible expense period. Applicants are encouraged to
watch this video on the application process.
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 16-64 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 127,000 people remaining on the Phase 1A pre-registration list. 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 18, 2021.
Montgomery County COVID-19 Hotline: A COVID-19 hotline is available for general COVID-19 questions and pre-registration for the COVID-19 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. Phone pre-registration for vaccine appointments is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 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. No walk-up registration is accepted. Currently, Montgomery County has three vaccination clinics:
- Montgomery County Community College – Blue Bell, PA
- Norristown Area High School – Norristown, PA
- Parkside Shopping Center (Former Petco Location) – Willow Grove, 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 Office of Public Health 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.
In addition, Walmart will start offering COVID-19 vaccinations within some of its stores. Patients can start scheduling appointments this Thursday, March 18 by visiting
www.walmart.com/COVIDvaccine.
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, March 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.