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COVID-19 vaccine clinics winding down operations amid low demand and fears of variant surge

As COVID cases decline in the U.S. and vaccine clinics report seeing fewer and fewer patients, some clinics are now closing up shop.

YORK, Pa. — As COVID cases decline in the U.S. and vaccine clinics report seeing fewer and fewer patients, some clinics are now winding down operations.

The York City Collaborative Clinic, run by Family First Health, announced it will close at the end of March after a year and 7,500 vaccines administered. The program will now direct future patients to get vaccinated at other community locations, such as pharmacies.

“We’ve noticed over the past couple of months that the need isn’t there, but there are a lot of access points within the community,” said Erin Schmidt, Family First Health's COVID-19 community program manager.

Many other vaccination clinics have closed in the last year. 

Several mass vaccination clinics, including the Lancaster County Community Vaccination Center, closed in summer 2021. More recently, health systems including Penn Medicine have announced plans to close some vaccine clinics amid declining COVID cases.

The closures come even as only 65% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, according to data from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Meanwhile, health officials are warning of an emerging variant of the omicron strain, which could potentially lead to another surge in infections.

“If we do see a significant surge, particularly one that might result in increased hospitalizations, we have to be prepared to pivot,” Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week."

Pennsylvania clinic organizers said, after multiple previous surges, they are well rehearsed in setting up quickly.

“Especially with COVID-19 and the pandemic, we created a whole program to be mobile and be in the community to do testing and vaccines,” Schmidt said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health wrote that, through working with state emergency planners and community providers, there’s more than enough capacity for testing and vaccines in the following statement:

“The Department is confident that Pennsylvanians will have reliable access to vaccines and testing should another surge occur.

On the vaccine side: The department is prepared to ramp up a response for COVID-19 vaccines, if necessary. Vaccine providers across the state continue to have the ability to request vaccine through the department and continue to order vaccine as needed to meet demand. And while the demand for vaccine has decreased over time, we remind Pennsylvanians that COVID-19 vaccines are currently available at local and retail pharmacies, pediatrician offices, medical offices, hospitals, emergency rooms, state health centers, County and Municipal Health Departments, local governments, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and many other locations throughout the Commonwealth. Emergency planning to stand up COVID-19 vaccine clinics would be in partnership with those providers.

On the testing side: The Commonwealth continues to have a robust testing network, comprised of pharmacies, hospitals and health systems, FQHCs and clinics, and other test sites, plus extensive laboratory capacity. The department continues to contract for community-based test sites and can quickly increase the number of sites should the need arise.

Note: As referenced above, there are currently numerous locations for people to receive vaccines and tests across Pennsylvania, but if needed, sites could be set up or reactivated.”

The York City Collaborative Clinic will remain open Tuesdays from 1 p.m. to 6:50 p.m. through March 29.

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