Lower Bucks Hospital Opens Public Vaccination Clinic

Lower Bucks Hospital opened its public vaccination clinic in Bristol Township on Tuesday.

The hospital’s COVID-19 vaccination clinic moved patients who qualify under Phase 1A of the state’s plan from registration to inoculation orderly and quickly. Patients received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Michelle Aliprantis, the spokesperson for the hospital, said the clinic is able to vaccinate up to 250 people per day, but that all depends on vaccine supply.

Phase 1A-qualified residents registered through the Bucks County Health Department list are being scheduled for vaccination at the hospital clinic. The county health department and the Bucks County Health Improvement Partnership are handling setting up appointments. Those seeking to register for a spot on the list can do so online.

“We know the community has been eager to gain access to the vaccine and we are excited to  expand our services to the Bucks residents who meet the 1A criteria,” said Lea Rodriguez, chief  nursing officer at Lower Bucks Hospital. “We will be administering the vaccine as quickly and  efficiently as possible, according to state and federal guidelines. It is a monumental opportunity  for us to provide hope for our community, and it will be a process, so we ask for the  community’s continued patience as we provide vaccines based on supply.” 

There is no payment or insurance required by anyone receiving the vaccine.

Hospital staff are volunteering to administer the vaccine.

“I’ve seen patients with COVID, and getting the vaccine is much better than having COVID,” Rodriguez said.

The chief nursing officer said its much better to get the vaccine than deal with the potentially life-threatening novel coronavirus that is to blame for the pandemic.

“It’s necessary to get the vaccine,” she said.

Dr. Mark Ansley, who is a radiology specialist at Lower Bucks Hospital, was among the staff volunteering at the vaccination clinic.

The doctor encouraged locals to get vaccinated. He said the data shows the vaccines are safe.

“The medicine is sound,” he said.

Carla Veltrup, a Bensalem Township resident, was among the first patients getting vaccinated at the clinic Tuesday.

“I was nervous about it at first, but then my daughter got it,” she said, noting her daughter had no serious complications from the vaccine.

Michael Veltrup, a resident of Bristol Township’s Croydon resident and former partner to Carla, said he was “happy to get the vaccine.”

Among the qualified patients at the hospital Tuesday were a sheriff’s deputy and several older people.

Francine Reid, a human resources supervisor at the hospital, was among the group getting vaccinated.

She said she was looking forward to getting the second dose.

The vaccinate process takes only a few minutes. Patients arrive, sign in, get seated and greeted by a medical professional, and then they are pricked with a needle with the vaccine. After, each patients sits for 15 minutes to make sure there are no immediate side effects and then they are on their way.

Rodriguez said the process is very easy and almost entirely painless.

Carla Veltrup said after she got her dose from a nurse that the prick didn’t hurt much.

In addition to Lower Bucks Hospital, St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown Township and Jefferson Bucks Hospital in Falls Township have been administering vaccinations along with a number of pharmacies and three county-supported clinics.

As of Tuesday, 34,736 partial vaccinates were administered in Bucks County and 24,936 people were fully vaccinated.

Lower Bucks Hospital, which is owned by national Prime Health, set the clinic up in a socially distant format and had staff wearing personal protective gear.

Since the first two vaccines were approved in December, 70 percent of Lower Bucks Hospital staff have received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Ways residents can help reduce the spread of COVID-19:

• Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
• Wear a mask properly when in a business or where it is difficult to maintain proper social distancing.
• Cover any coughs or sneezes with your elbow, not your hands.
• Clean surfaces frequently.
• Stay home to avoid spreading COVID-19, especially if you are unwell.