Last Night's Vaccine Town Hall

Dear John,

For those who may not know, I take time to personally call back some of the thousands of community members who contact us every week. These calls provide me an invaluable perspective into what is top of mind for our community. What I noticed this past month in particular is a sharp increase in questions about vaccines: the FDA approval process, safety and efficacy guidelines, our Commonwealth's distribution plan, and more.

In response, I brought together three subject matter experts for a telephone town hall to address your vaccine questions and provide helpful updates for Berks and Chester counties. Our guests were Dr. Benjamin Abella, Attending Physician and Vice Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Penn Medicine, Jeanne Casner, Director of the Chester County Department of Health, and Andrew Sharp, Deputy Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs in the Governor's office.

Over 1,000 of you joined us for last night's event, and I wanted to thank you for your thoughtful questions. If you did not get to ask your question live due to the high volume of callers, we will be calling you in the next 48 hours to follow up. I'm sending this short note to share the full audio recording of the event and additional resources for those who are interested. If you only have time to skim this message, please note that VA-enrolled veterans 70 and older can now sign up for vaccine appointments at the Coatesville VA. Details below.

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Vaccine Telephone Town Hall

Last Night: Community Town Hall to Discuss Covid Vaccine Distribution

Vaccines are one of the most effective tools we have to contain this virus. I encourage all Pennsylvanians to get the vaccine when it is made available to you. In Congress, I’m working to secure aid for states and localities so that they can more quickly distribute vaccines.

But even with the vaccine, we must continue to practice social distancing and wear masks to most effectively and efficiently contain and beat this virus. Below is some information about the current state of vaccine distribution in our Commonwealth:

Pennsylvania is currently in group 1A of the vaccination phase. This includes health care workers, residents of long-term care facilities, persons ages 16-64 with high-risk conditions, and folks 65 and older. An exhaustive list of those who fit under 1A can be found on PA’s vaccine site.
Those that wish to be vaccinated can pre-register for vaccination on the Chester County vaccination site. Anyone who works or resides in Chester County may pre-register even if they don’t meet the current group criteria. Once you pre-register, you will receive notifications as appointments become available for the COVID-19 vaccine. This will also keep folks updated on the current group phase.
Constituents living in Berks County can visit the Berks vaccine site to find vaccine providers within the county.
The Coatesville VA is now opening up vaccine appointments to VA-enrolled veterans 70 and older. There are two ways to place interested veterans on the vaccine appointment list: (1) Call 610-384-7711 extension 5705 (or 5706) or (2) Click on this link and scroll to the paragraph where you must sign up to the 'Keep Me Informed' tool for more information. Since the age was just lowered, the official update on the website regarding the age change is forthcoming.
Please contact the PA Dept. of Health if you do not have access to a computer or smartphone at 1-877-724-3258 for more information on scheduling a vaccine appointment. Only folks who fit under the 1A group are being vaccinated at this time, therefore they are the only ones who can schedule vaccination appointments.

To say it has been a difficult year would be an understatement. As a country, we find ourselves in the midst of two crises – a public health and an economic crisis. In order to rebuild our economy, we must do everything in our power to crush this virus. Again, I want to ensure that our office continues to be a source of accurate information during these trying times. Please continue to engage with us and let us know how we can be helpful.

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We want to hear from you. Please stay in touch and let us know what you thought of this e-newsletter. As always, we invite you to call one of our offices or message us through our contact form. Feel free to pass this update along to friends of our community so they can keep in touch too.

Respectfully,

WASHINGTON, DC OFFICE
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READING OFFICE
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Phone: (610) 295-0815
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