Coronavirus vaccination efforts stepped up in Luzerne County

Homebound elderly and disabled Luzerne County residents can now receive the COVID-19 vaccine at their residence through a program announced Monday.

Vaccinations also are underway at senior high-rise facilities and complexes throughout the county, and a two-day mass vaccination clinic that kicked off Monday at the Mohegan Sun Pocono Casino in Plains Township will resume Wednesday.

“This pandemic has to end, and it’s through initiatives like this and communities like ours here in Luzerne County that will get us there,” county Manager C. David Pedri said during the announcement at Dan Flood Towers in Kingston as facility residents lined up to receive their shots.

Several entities worked on the vaccination programs, Pedri said, including the county’s Area Agency on Aging, the county Emergency Management Agency, the medical societies in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, All Care Home Care and EMS of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

“This is when opportunity and persistence and coordination all meet together. This is a great opportunity for people who need vaccinations to get them,” said Dr. Julio Ramos, president of the Luzerne County Medical Society.

“Thanks for letting us be part of the solution,” Ramos said.

At-home shots

Residents interested in receiving the vaccine in their home should contact the county’s Area Agency on Aging at 570-822-1158.

Workers will show up at the scheduled appointment time with pre-filled syringes and a questionnaire that must be completed, said Mary Ann Ator, of All Care Home Care.

As required, workers also will remain with those vaccinated to ensure there are no reactions and return about a month later to administer the second dose needed for maximum protection, she said.

Senior facilities

Tenants at Dan Flood Towers have been requesting vaccination assistance since March, Kerri Zurcher, property manager at the Wyoming Avenue facility, said during the announcement.

Some tenants had signed up with multiple vaccine providers and were unable to secure appointments, she said.

Facility resident Phill Williams, 55, jumped at the opportunity to obtain a vaccine without leaving the building, saying transportation is a barrier for him.

Williams said he “keeps to himself,” even when there’s not a pandemic, but was very “motivated” to protect himself with a vaccine.

Another woman waiting in line said more activities and socialization may return to the building thanks to the vaccinations.

Resident Mary Clemons, 57, said she was unsuccessful in one attempt to secure a vaccination appointment and didn’t try again.

She had the coronavirus in March and was sick for 14 days — an experience she does not want to repeat.

“I am still concerned. I want to reduce my chances of getting it again,” Clemons said.

After wrapping up at the Dan Flood building, the vaccination crew administered shots at several other senior living facilities Monday, said Mary Roselle, executive director of the Area Agency on Aging.

In all, interested residents at approximately 20 facilities throughout the county will be vaccinated through Wednesday, Roselle said, noting her office had invited any senior facilities to participate.

Casino clinic

Wednesday’s mass vaccination clinic will run from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the casino’s Keystone Grand Ballroom.

Walk-ins will be accepted, but the county urges interested residents to pre-register if possible.

Vaccine recipients in this clinic must be 18 and older.

A link to pre-register is posted at luzernecounty.org or through this address: https://cw2-pennsylvania-production.herokuapp.com//reg/4012817569.

The casino address is 1280 Highway 315.

Vaccine recipients must return to the casino in June to obtain the second required dose.

Transportation and other assistance is available to elderly residents through the Agency on Aging Office at 570-822-1158. After-hour and weekend assistance can be obtained from Help Line at 570-829-1341.

Hundreds of residents took advantage of the first casino vaccination clinic Monday, Pedri said.

“Everybody was thanking us and happy to get it,” county EMA Director Lucy Morgan said Monday night. “We had a lot of cooperation with all our partners. Everybody just really wanted to help the community.”

Vaccination progress

Based on the latest figures, 99,090 county residents are now fully vaccinated.

Another 36,862 county residents are partially vaccinated because they received one of two required doses.

How many residents remain?

At least 37.2% eligible residents have been fully vaccinated, but the percentage is likely higher.

The reason: the best available age population statistics used by the state health department include 15 year olds. Only residents 16 and older are able to be vaccinated at this time.

The county has 266,073 residents 15 and older.

If all current partially vaccinated county residents receive their second doses, the fully vaccinated count would rise to 135,952 and at least 51.2%.

Coronavirus cases

The county had a drop in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the latest weekly benchmark reading, although ventilator use increased slightly.

There were 612 new cases in the county during the week ending Thursday, or 54 less than the prior week’s 666, according to the state’s early warning dashboard posted at www.health.pa.gov.

With fewer new cases this week, the county’s incidence rate — the number of cases per 100,000 residents — decreased from 209.8 to 192.8. The county’s positivity rate, or the percentage of diagnostic tests yielding positive results, also dropped from 10.2% two weeks ago to 9.5% last week.

An average daily 50.7 county residents were hospitalized for the coronavirus the week ending Thursday, or 11.3 less than the previous week’s average daily 62 residents, the state said.

For context, average daily hospitalizations were a much higher 130.6 in mid-January but only 7.3 last June.

The number of hospitalized county residents on ventilators rose from 4.1 to 5.7 over the two-week period, it said.