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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- More COVID-19 vaccination clinics have started to develop in Blair County, Director of Public Safety Mark Taylor told commissioners Tuesday.
"All in all, Blair County is getting vaccinated," Taylor said. "While it's not as fast as we'd like it to happen, it is occurring."
Based on his contact with local health care providers, Taylor said that Conemaugh Nason Medical Center in Roaring Spring, Penn Highlands Healthcare network, Encompass Rehabilitation Hospital and the Van Zandt VA Medical Center are holding almost daily vaccination clinics for registered patients.
UPMC Altoona, which last week introduced an online registration system for COVID-19 vaccinations, is administering about 200 shots daily at the Station Medical Center, Taylor said.
With the recent approval of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, Taylor said he anticipates more vaccine will become available for county residents.
When that happens, Taylor said he'll move ahead on plans to set up a vaccination clinic at the Blair County Convention Center.
"Patience remains the word of the day, but we certainly don't want to get anybody discouraged," Taylor told the commissioners. "There is more vaccine coming, and their turn will come."
The state Department of Health, which supervises vaccine distribution, currently recommends vaccinations for those in the 1a group -- people 65 and older and those between 14 and 64 with select health conditions making them more vulnerable if and when exposed to COVID-19.
As of Monday, available figures indicate that 8,651 county residents were partially vaccinated and 7,151 were fully vaccinated. Combined, that's more than 10% of the 121,000 county residents based on 2020 preliminary census reports.
As the amount of vaccinated county residents continues to increase, Taylor advised against complacency.
"There are new variants out there, which could result in another surge," he said.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.