FEMA Handing Reigns Of COVID-19 Vaccine Site At Pennsylvania Convention Center Over To Philly Health Department
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The demand for vaccines in the city has been declining in recent weeks, and with that FEMA announced Tuesday that its "mission accomplished" at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
The federal government will be handing the reigns of the convention center vaccine site over to the city of Philadelphia.
The site will close Wednesday then reopen on Thursday in Hall F under the control of Philadelphia's Health Department.
Officials say it will be on a much smaller scale than we've seen over the last few months - where a 220 person Navy and Marine Corp team administered more than 350,000 vaccinations between this site and the Esperanza Center in North Philadelphia. That's 25% of the 865,000 Philadelphians that have received at least one shot in the arm.
With FEMA leaving town, the city will now focus more on outreach efforts and smaller events.
"During the first eight weeks, the demand was extremely intense. In fact, at one point, we had a day where we had 7,100 people that actually went through the site to get vaccinated. We did start seeing the trending down," FEMA Region 3 Acting Administrator Janice Barlow said. "So we got the willing, and the ones that really wanted, and knew that our next step was getting the moveable minute -- the middle that we call, and then we did an intense out reach program along with the city and ourselves to get people to come and get vaccinated but now we know that the next piece is getting the vaccine where people are."
The convention center will remain open through June 16. The Esperanza Site in North Philly will shut down at close of business on Tuesday.
