Where To Get The Coronavirus Vaccine In Pennsylvania [UPDATED]

PENNSYLVANIA — If you're frustrated trying to figure out where and when you can get the coronavirus vaccine in Pennsylvania, you're not alone.

Unfortunately, the supply of vaccine remains the great limiting factor, and wait lines are lengthy across the state.

Mass vaccination sites have been set up in many counties, and the state has announced a plan to open sites statewide through the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency once they begin to receive more vaccine. Numerous pharmacies and healthcare organizations have also opened clinics, like the mass vaccine site at Dorney Park.

The state has faced numerous hurdles in its immunization efforts beyond the supply. Many second doses of the Moderna vaccine were mistakenly given as first doses. Winter weather has also slowed distribution, causing no shipments to be sent out in Pennsylvania on multiple days.

The first shipments of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine were sent out in Pennsylvania the week beginning March 1.

Who Can Get Vaccinated

As of Monday, the coronavirus vaccine is available to the 1A priority group in Pennsylvania:

• Healthcare workers
• People over the age of 65
• People with serious underlying medical conditions
• Residents and staff in low-income and senior housing
• Staff and residents in long-term care facilities

It is also available to teachers and school employees after Johnson & Johnson doses arrived in Pennsylvania last week. The PA National Guard will assist in distribution of the vaccine, which will be organized through 28 intermediate units statewide.

Certain individuals in 1B, including police officers, firefighters, and grocery store workers, will begin receiving the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine once teacher vaccinations are completed. Officials said this was largely completed by the end of March.

The state originally said that they would have all of 1A vaccinated by the end of March. This was amended, and instead all appointments for 1A were aimed to be booked by the end of March. All residents in Phase 1B became eligible for the COVID vaccine on April 5. Here is the full schedule:

March 31: Police officers, firefighters, grocery store workers, and food and agriculture workers. Roughly 190,000 to 250,000 individuals are in this group.

April 5: The rest of the frontline workers in 1B. 700,000 to 1 million individuals are here.

April 12 will see 1C become eligible, include other critical infrastructure employees who cannot work remotely. 1.3 to 1.7 million are in this group.

April 19: The general public.

Pennsylvania has also rolled out a tool called YourTurn. Residents under 65 can input their information to see if they are eligible. If they are eligible, they'll be directed to a vaccination appointment registration link. If they aren't eligible, they'll be given more information on when they'll become eligible, based on the information they provided.

Where To Get Vaccinated

If you're eligible, the next step is to find a facility near you and book an appointment. Many county health departments provide vaccines, while numerous pharmacies are receiving shipments directly from the federal government.

The map linked here shows providers that are currently booking appointments for eligible Pennsylvania residents. While there are legislative efforts underway to centralize the registration system, the state says they have no immediate plans to implement that system.

The state announced in early February that they would be downsizing the total number of providers from around 1,700 to closer to 200. This is in order to concentrate shipments of doses in the hands of the "highest performing" providers, including all county health departments.

CVS announced on March 5 that they're offering a dramatically increased number of doses at 75 different pharmacies statewide.