Philly Reps, Sen Casey Ask To Extend FEMA-Run Philly Vaccine Site

Philadelphia PA

09 April, 2021

1:11 PM

Description

PHILADELPHIA — The FEMA-run mass vaccination site at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia is set to close in two weeks, but Philly's congressional representatives and one of Pennsylvania's senators is asking to keep the site open. The Center City Vaccination Center provides about 6,000 coronavirus vaccines per day, providing a majority of vaccine doses in the city. However, it is set to close on April 26. With that in mind, U.S. Reps. Mary Gay Scanlon, Brendan Boyle, and Dwight Evans, as well as Sen. Bob Casey, wrote to the White House asking to extend the site. In a joint letter to White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients, the congressional representatives said keeping the site open would allow the city to provide its allocated doses to underserved areas of residents. The FEMA-run site is given its own dose allocation directly from the federal government, whereas the city gets its own supplies from the federal government. "The city is making progress in vaccinating these underserved and hard to reach populations," the letter reads, "but for that progress to continue, we need your assistance." The deadline for the city to decide whether it will allocate doses from its own supply to the Convention Center site is Monday, the letter states. The elected officials asked FEMA to extend that deadline to April 21. "This will allow the city additional time to try to identify how to aggregate the additional doses required to keep the FEMA site running while meeting its commitment to providing equitable access to vaccine appointment," the letter reads. The city Friday opened its second mass vaccination site at Esperanza Academy Charter School, 301 W. Hunting Park Ave., and will prioritize eligible residents from phases 1A, 1B, and 1C who have signed up on the Philadelphia COVID-19 Vaccine Interest Form. Walk-up appointments will be available at designated times The site won't be as high volume as the site in the convention center, but it will vaccinate at least 1,000 people per day. The entrance to the Esperanza Community Vaccination Center is located along the south side of W. Bristol Street, at 4261 N. 5th St. The Esperanza Community Vaccination Center will operate six days a week. Times of operation will vary for easier scheduling. Monday and Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 8 p.m.Friday – ClosedSaturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.As of Thursday, 577,855 people have been partially vaccinated and 350,321 people have been fully vaccinated in the city.