Local vaccine clinics scheduled as COVID-19 cases increase

Randy Griffith, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
Updated ·3 min read

Sep. 22—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — The arrival of fall on Thursday is accompanied by an uptick in COVID-19 cases, with local organizations ramping up a seasonal vaccine campaign.

Pennsylvania added 18,981 new positives in the past seven days, as reported Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. That's 1,475 more new cases than were reported over the previous seven days and the third straight week with an increase in new cases.

Health officials continue to urge everyone to stay up to date on their vaccines, especially with the new bivalent booster shots that target the latest strains of the COVID-19 omicron variant.

To combat an expected fall surge, Johnstown's Highlands Health free clinic will hold a series of public vaccination clinics, including a special pediatric event on Monday, Executive Director Rosalie Danchanko announced Wednesday.

The clinics will offer the new bivalent boosters for those 18 and older. The reformulated vaccine offers better protection against the forms of COVID-19 currently circulating and also help prevent long-haul COVID-19, health experts say.

"The higher your level of immunity, the less viral replication you're going to have, the less viral damage, the less likelihood of long COVID," immunologist Shane Crotty, of La Jolla Institute for Immunology, told the New York Times.

Another expert said the new vaccines should adapt to future virus strains. Marion Pepper, chairwoman of immunology at Washington State University, told the Times the bivalent vaccines "create new, more diverse memory cells that will help protect from omicron variants and new variants that we have yet to encounter."

Both Pfizer and Moderna offer bivalent boosters, and both should be equally effective for anyone who has had the first two initial vaccine doses, Danchanko said.

"It's very effective whether they have had Pfizer or Moderna in the past," she said.

Highlands Health offers vaccinations with no appointments necessary from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Tuesday at its headquarters, 315 Locust St., downtown Johnstown.

The first community walk-in clinic is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at the pavilion outside Fulton I. Connor Towers, 527 Vine St., downtown Johnstown.

Additional walk-in clinics scheduled include:

—2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday at Prospect Community Center, Prospect Homes, 341 Gray St., Johnstown. The clinic is scheduled in cooperation with the 1889 Jefferson Center for Population Health.

—10 a.m. to noon Sept. 29 at East Hills Recreation, 101 Community College Way, Richland Township. The clinic is part of state Sen. Wayne Langerholc's SeniorExpo.

—A community-wide clinic will be held from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 14 at Senior LIFE, 401 Broad St. in Johnstown's Cambria City section. Appointments are preferred for the event and may be scheduled at www.highlandshealthclinic.com.

The pediatric vaccination clinic will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday at the Highlands Health headquarters, 315 Locust St.

Children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years of age are eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations. Call Highlands Health at 814-534-6242, ext. 103, for appointments.

Home visits are available for those not able to come to the clinics. They may be scheduled by calling Highlands Health.

Meanwhile, the Health Department's weekly report showed this region is faring better than the state as a whole, with seven of eight counties adding fewer COVID-19 cases this week than they did last week.

Only Clearfield County had more new cases, up from 148 last week to 173 this week.

Cambria County added 335 cases, down from 355; Somerset County added 94 cases, down from 135; Bedford County added 46 cases, down from 62; Blair County added 144 cases, down from 214; Indiana County added 154 cases, down from 203; Centre County added 227 cases, down from 336; and Westmoreland County added 515 cases, down from 637.

Bedford was the only regional county reporting no new COVID-19 deaths.

Somerset and Clearfield had one new death each; Blair and Centre each reported two; and Cambria, Indiana and Westmoreland each reported three.