Credit: PA Internet News Service
The sixth county-overseen COVID-19 mass vaccination site in Bucks County will be open within weeks.
The Bucks County Commissioners approved a contract on Wednesday morning to place a COVID-19 mass vaccination clinic at the closed Giant Food Store in the Warwick Square shopping center on York Road in Warwick Township.
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The roughly 30,000-square-foot former grocery store will host a vaccine clinic that can administer 2,000 doses per day, Bucks County COO Margaret McKevitt said.
The new mass inoculation clinic will join those at the Bucks County Community College campuses in Bristol Township, Newtown Township, and outside of Perkasie. A clinic at the Neshaminy Mall in Bensalem Township is starting operation this week and one in the Quakertown area is being prepared.
Bucks County General Services Director Kevin Spencer said his department is working with the emergency management agency and the health department to prepare the Central Bucks County site for an early April opening. There is work underway to spruce up the building and get the HVAC system running.
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The county is determining the set up for chairs, tables, and carpet runners, Spencer said.
Bucks County is using federal funds to rent the closed grocery store from FW PA-Warwick Plaza LLC, of Jacksonville, Florida, for $57,150. The lease runs from April 1 to August 1.
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The county-overseen clinics are operated by AMI Expeditionary Healthcare under a $14 million contract funded by federal government money.
As more vaccine doses are produced and become available, the county is prepared to expand their vaccination program. Officials have voiced frustration with limited vaccine supplies.
McKevitt said the county will be prepared to vaccinate more residents in the coming weeks.
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“Now we just need lots of doses of vaccine,” Commissioner Chairperson Diane Ellis-Marseglia said.
The Bucks County Health Department has more than 258,600 people on their COVID-19 vaccine waiting list. Those who wish to register can do so at the county website.
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Outside of the county’s inoculation efforts, local hospitals, some medical offices, long-term care centers, and pharmacies have their own supplies and vaccination programs.
State data showed that people 55,247 in Bucks County have been fully vaccinated, while 53,921 have been partially vaccinated as of Wednesday morning. However, officials have noted those numbers are likely an under count.
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