City says to re-register if you signed up with Philly Fighting COVID, cut off vaccines



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The health department has announced plans for a new mass vaccination clinic.

The COVID-19 Community Immunization Clinic at the Pennsylvania Convention Center

Kimberly Paynter / WHY

The city halted the supply of Philly Fighting COVID vaccines after the group switched to a for-profit model and abandoned community testing partners, as WHYY and Billy Penn reported last week. People who have received their first doses of PFC will be moved to a new provider, the city’s health department said.

Health officials are asking people to re-register at the city’s site, which was announced on January 19 and rolled out two days later, weeks after registration for the PFC.

For those who have pre-registered with the PFC, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health “strongly recommends[s]»Enter your information again on the city’s website:

https://www.phila.gov/vaccineinterest

“By registering on this website, the health department will be able to contact you to make an appointment when you are eligible and the vaccine is available,” said department spokesman James Garrow.

A Jan. 8 statement from the department encouraged people to sign up for Philly Fighting COVID.

“Everyone in Philadelphia is encouraged to begin the vaccine registration process by committing to a vaccine in advance at www.PhillyFightingCovid.com,” the city statement said.

“The pre-engagement form requires Philadelphians interested in a vaccine to provide personal information, including name, contact information, occupation, location of residence and work, and sign up to receive updates on the vaccine. status of vaccine administration in the city when it is their turn to be vaccinated.

If you are one of the people who has already received their first dose via PFC, please be aware that the Department of Health has your information and says they are planning to set up another clinic.

“We are working to set up another clinic, run by the health department or another partner, to be held on the day they are eligible to receive their second dose,” the city said. “Once this is understood, we will be in contact and work with them to set an appointment. We already have second doses reserved for these clinics. “

The city confirmed to WHY it has received at least seven requests for its community immunization request for proposals, including major health systems Penn Medicine, Einstein and Temple Health.

If selected, Temple plans to set up a network of mobile vans offering community vaccines, Penn will partner with a federally approved health clinic, and Einstein will set up a space near the Olney transportation hub, where it offers tests. This group hopes to be operational by March 1.

The city’s decision to stop working with PFC was based on the group’s updated privacy policy, Garrow said, which “could allow the organization to sell data collected through PFC’s pre-registration site.” – although the city said it had no evidence that data was sold.

“[F]or PFC to have made these changes without discussion with the City is extremely troubling, ”he said.

The pre-registration site became a source of unrest last week, after WHYY and Billy Penn reported that the city and the startup were not working in tandem on the early registration page, as they had initially announced. A few days later, the city launched its own COVID registration site. The health department said it will work to consolidate information from all existing listings, including those managed by the Black Doctors COVID-19 consortium and Acme Markets.



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