Phoenixville Hospital -Tower Health Vaccinating This Week
PHOENIXVILLE, PA — Vaccination of hospital staff began Monday at Phoenixville Hospital-Tower Health and it is going smoothly, Tower Health reported today.
Phoenixville Hospital-Tower Health is among four hospitals in Chester County that have received doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. Hospital staff caring directly for COVID-19 patients were the first to receive vaccinations, a Tower Health communications person said.
Phoenixville Hospital is one of the 109 hospitals to date that have received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the state health department said this week. Three other Tower Health hospitals in Chester County also received vaccines; Phoenixville Hospital, Jennersville Hospital, and Brandywine Hospital.
In addition to the three Tower Health facilities, Chester County Hospital-Penn Medicine in West Chester is also receiving vaccine doses and also began vaccinating staff this week.
Tower Health said today that distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine to its employees is "moving smoothly."
"We have successfully distributed doses received thus far and are scheduling more staff vaccinations as additional doses are received. We are following PA Department of Health guidelines for prioritizing distribution, which in this early phase has focused on frontline staff interacting with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients," a Tower Health communications person told Patch.
"While the arrival of the vaccine is a reason for optimism, members of the community should remain diligent about wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing, and frequent handwashing. We encourage everyone to avoid holiday gatherings with more than immediate family members. These steps, along with the vaccine, will help control the spread of COVID-19 in our community," Tower Health said.
Those receiving the vaccine first include direct care providers as well as other healthcare workers in roles such as environmental services, transport, security, and food services. That decision is in accordance with state and federal health agency recommendations, a Tower Health spokesperson said.
Phoenixville Borough has reported 511 cases of COVID-19, with 3.01 percent of its population having tested positive for the disease. The borough has had 23 deaths from COVID-19, according to the Chester County Department of Health.
The Wolf Administration today announced as of noon Monday, additional hospitals have received 30,255 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and will begin distributing it to health care workers as outlined in the state’s interim distribution plan.
In Pennsylvania, 581,156 cases of COVID-19 had been reported as of Dec. 23. Since the pandemic began, 14,442 have died of the disease, according to the state health department.
This article originally appeared on the Phoenixville Patch
