COVID-19 vaccine in Bucks County: find your place online

BUCKS COUNTY, PA – With a COVID-19 vaccine rollout slated for January, The New York Times, Surgo Foundation, and Ariadne Labs have created an immunization tool that calculates the number of people who will need a vaccine in each state and county, and where they fall in line.

For example, an average 40-year-old Bucks County resident with no COVID-related health risk is expected to line up behind 268.7 million people across the United States, including 489,800 in Bucks County, according to the tool. In contrast, a 70-year-old retiree with health risks would be behind only about 44,000 inhabitants in a county of about 628,000 inhabitants.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently made recommendations on who should be offered the vaccine when it is initially rolled out, with top priority given to groups such as health workers, residents of health care facilities long-term, essential workers, people with underlying health problems. and the elderly.

Governor Wolf said the health department has no plans to make the vaccine mandatory.

Vaccine deployment

No matter where you find yourself, Pennsylvania has been preparing to administer the COVID-19 vaccine for months.

Here in Pennsylvania, where a second wave of infections has seen a daily escalation in positive cases, officials say a vaccine could be available within the next month.

The New York Times Vaccine Tracker says 13 vaccines are in widespread efficacy testing and seven have already been approved for limited use. Pfizer and Moderna are nearing completion.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health said it will roll out the vaccine in three phases, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The first phase will focus on healthcare workers, first responders, critical workers, people over 65 and residents who live in collective care facilities.

Phase two will prioritize critical populations that have not yet been vaccinated before starting to vaccinate the general population.

In the third phase, once a sufficient supply of vaccines becomes available, the state will focus on immunizing the entire population of Pennsylvania. The health ministry said it had no plans to make vaccinations mandatory.

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