Blair, AMED to ink deal for clinic

Agreement would allow service to be reimbursed for time

AMED'S board on Monday voted to enter into an agreement with Blair County to allow AMED employees to support a proposed COVID-19 mass vaccination clinic at the Blair County Convention Center.

The memorandum of understanding would allow AMED to be reimbursed for its employees' time and would provide for liability protection, according to AMED Executive Director Gary Watters.

The county would draft the agreement and AMED solicitor Dan Stants would review and approve it.

Some of the reimbursement money would come from funding provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, Watters said.

Numerous agencies and organizations are expected to participate in the clinic -- including not only emergency medical services, but hospitals, police, the Sheriff's Department and the Convention Center staff, according to Mark Taylor, director of the Blair County Emergency Management Agency.

Representatives of such organizations met last week to discuss the proposed clinic for the first time, Taylor said.

Their plans for now call for administering 3,000 shots a day.

Such a clinic could run from a Monday to a Friday, possibly from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Taylor said.

There was discussion of the possibility of adding a Saturday, he said. There's also the possibility of operating the clinic for more than one week, he said.

There is some expectation that the clinic might be accepting individuals in Phase 1b, Taylor indicated.

The state Department of Health so far authorized vaccinations only for Phase 1a, which has about 4.5 million members.

"It's a start," Taylor said on Friday of the planning. "There's progress," he said on Monday.

Uncertainty statewide about when mass vaccination clinics can be held has resulted from a shortage of vaccines -- although the federal government has been delivering increasing quantities to the state in recent weeks.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.