COVID In Philadelphia: Mass Vaccination Center Opens At Pennsylvania Convention Center
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A mass vaccination site is now up and running in Center City for health care workers. The site at the Convention Center opened this morning.
This is the time of year Philadelphians are usually gearing up for the Auto Show at the Convention Center, but this year, the city's first mass vaccination site is now open.
Long lines filled the halls of the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Friday.
The first mass vaccination site in Philadelphia is seeing a steady stream of health care workers ready to protect themselves from COVID-19.
"We need to get it out as fast as we can. We need to get it into communities that are especially vulnerable," said Deputy Health Commissioner Dr. Caroline Johnson.
The pop-up clinic is designed to vaccinate thousands per day.
"At this site, we can vaccinate between 100 and 450 people per hour, 1,000 to 4,500 people every single day," said Philly Fighting COVID CEO Dr. Karol Osipowicz.
Philly Fighting Covid teamed up with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to open this site. They're expecting up to 15,000 of the city's health care workers to be inoculated here.
"The consequences of not being vaccinated could be death. This is very, very serious," Philadelphia City Councilmember Cindy Bass said.
Over the next few weeks, additional PFC clinic locations will be added across the city to help accelerate the vaccination process. Eventually, the public will also have the opportunity to walk in for their shots.
"I think that's great," Germantown resident Barbara Day said.
For now, you can join the waitlist and pre-commit.
"As long as they have some record of it being effective, I'd go with it. Nobody wants to catch the virus," Clifford Collins said.
It could take months before vaccines are available to the general public. But you can start the registration process so you'll be one of the first to know when the vaccine is available to you.
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