SMETHPORT — McKean County officials announced Friday that local senior centers have joined the effort to assist local residents with registration for the Covid-19 vaccine. This announcement comes at a time when two locations in McKean County have received doses of the vaccine.
McKean County commissioner Tom Kreiner confirmed that 100 doses of vaccine were scheduled to be received by each of the two Rite Aid locations in McKean County, one in Kane and one in Port Allegany.
“The senior centers are giving out the information on where to get vaccinated and how to register,” stated Bruce Manning, deputy director of the McKean County Emergency Management Agency. “They are also having their staff assist technology impaired seniors with scheduling appointments via the internet.”
Anyone in need of help can call their local senior center.
Manning also stated that the local Rite Aid in Port Allegany was providing vaccines when he visited that site on Friday. “Their operation was going smoothly, with a few people waiting for the 15-minute period following their vaccination and a few waiting for the vaccine, which was being administered by the pharmacist.”
Rite Aid vaccinations are by appointment only. Registration for vaccine appointments at each of these locations is available directly through their website at https://www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/apt-scheduler
“We are trying to get information out to the public as soon as we are aware of the availability of vaccines and the process to be registered,” said Kreiner. “With the rollout now working with chain pharmacies and large retailers such as Walmart, Weis and Giant Eagle, for example, we are not receiving that information from the Department of Health. People are seeing the option to register on the internet before it is hitting our desks.”
The Federal Retail Pharmacy Program is a collaboration between federal and state governments and 21 national partners and independent pharmacy networks. Some of the selected sites include pharmacies at Walmart and Sam’s Club in Western Pennsylvania.
“Any way we can get the vaccine into the arms of our eligible county residents is welcome, but we are feeling the frustration of not having the information to give to the public as to how to go about that,” said Commissioner Carol Duffy. “We do have an ongoing concern in rural Pennsylvania. We have limited eligible and available distribution centers. Having limited distribution centers, as identified in the state plan, delays access to our residents.”
Regionally, McKean County has six approved locations to receive and administer the vaccine, Elk County has five locations and Cameron County has one. Contact information for the two Rite Aid locations is provided above.
St. Marys Pharmacy is providing the COVID-19 vaccine out of its St. Marys location only. Interested individuals can submit a vaccine request form on its website at www.smprx.com/vaccines or email questions to vaccines@smprx.com. Anyone with further questions can call the COVID vaccine hotline at 814-971-1070.
Many facilities are overwhelmed by phone calls and email remains the best option to make contact. BRMC can be reached at covidvaccine@brmc.com; Kane-UPMC can be contacted at covidvaccine@upmc.edu or register at www.upmc.com/healthcarevaccine;
Port Allegany Pharmacy can be reached via email at miki@portpharmacy.com or one can register at https://www.facebook.com/PortPharmacy.
The Department of Health updates its web page with approved and operating vaccination locations in each county. Under Pennsylvania Vaccine Provider Information or https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Vaccine/Pages/Vaccine.aspx the site shows locations in McKean County. By clicking on the blue dot, more information is available for the location of the facility and for how to register at Rite Aid.
