Montco to Open Vaccination Site in Pottstown

The apparent paucity of COVID-19 vaccines has put Montgomery County in a tough spot as it tries to get 831,000 residents protected against the virus.

And local and county leaders are working to make sure Pottstown does not get left behind in that effort.

According to Montgomery County Commissioners Chair Valerie Arkoosh, the county is "currently working with Pottstown Borough to identify a location for a vaccination site that would be able to give approximately 750-1000 vaccinations/day and would be able to be reached without a car." 

"The timing for the opening of this clinic," she wrote in response to an emailed query, "will depend upon finalizing a location and the Montgomery County Office of Public Health receiving more doses of vaccine from the Pennsylvania Department of Health."

Johnny Corson

That's music to the ears of Johnny Corson, president of the Pottstown chapter of the NAACP, who has been pressing Arkoosh to help Pottstown.

"It’s been a rough year. It’s been really upsetting to me that people have had such difficulty getting the vaccine. But now, vaccines are on the way,” Corson said in a press release from the NAACP

“People need to get the shot,” he added. “They need it to protect themselves, to protect those close to them, and to help conquer this disease in our community.”

The county has already brought its mobile unit to Pottstown last week to vaccinate  those eligible in the Bright Hope Robert Smith Towers and Sidney Pollack House public housing sites.

"The team will return to vaccinate 1A individuals who reside at Buchert Ridge and Jefferson School Apartments in the very near future," according to Arkoosh.

Both Arkoosh and Corson also expressed concern about the fact that current data indicates that Black, Hispanic/LatinX residents and those of Asian descent are being vaccinated at a rate lower than their proportion of the population.

According to the most recent countywide vaccination data, while the Asian population comprises about 7.7 percent of the county’s total population it represented only about 0.6 percent of those vaccinated through March 10.

While the Black or African American population comprises 9.6 percent of the county’s total population it represented only about 4.2 percent of those vaccinated through March 10, according to county data.

And while the Hispanic/LatinX population comprises 5.4 percent of Montgomery County's population, current data indicates only 1.8 percent have been vaccinated.

Comparatively, the white population, while it comprises about 78.8 percent of the county’s total population, it represented 86.6 percent of the vaccinated population through March 10.

But there may be a problem with that data, said Arkoosh.

Valerie Arkoosh at a county

vaccine site.

"We are very concerned about the fact that we do not appear to be vaccinating individuals who identify as Asian or AA/Black in the proportion consistent with their proportion of our county population," according to Arkoosh. 

"One caveat – one in five individuals have declined to answer the optional question about race and one in three the question about ethnicity. We are urging individuals to please answer these questions. This is our best tool for ensuring that we leave no members of our community behind in this effort," Arkoosh said. "I want to reassure the public that this is the only purpose that this data is used for."

Earlier this week, Arkoosh raised the issue of the need for people to fill out the race and ethnicity information when they register. “This data is important to us because it is one of the ways that we can insure that this vaccine is being delivered equitably," she said.