AHN, Monroeville chamber of commerce teaming up to inoculate 5,100 with covid vaccine

Allegheny Health Network and the Monroeville Area Chamber of Commerce will team up on Tuesday to give 5,100 people covid-19 vaccinations.

The clinic will be at the Monroeville Convention Center for people who signed up ahead of time, according to an AHN news release. There will be no walk-in appointments accepted.

AHN caregivers will administer the Pfizer shot to people who fall into Phase 1A, which according to the state Department of Health includes health care workers, people 65 and older and those age 16-65 with high-risk conditions. Anyone inoculated Tuesday will return to the convention center for their second dose March 30.

Stephanie Waite, an AHN spokeswoman, said the network designates 15% to 20% of all its vaccine doses to marginalized, minority populations as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index. She said up to 20% of those being vaccinated during the event will be in that category.

“We are extremely excited to be able to offer the vaccine to so many more of our friends and neighbors who live in the greater Monroeville area and other parts of the western Pennsylvania community that AHN and Highmark Health serve,” said Mark Rubino, president of Forbes Hospital in Monroeville.

Rubino noted AHN’s involvement in hosting other regional vaccine events in the past couple of weeks that have led to the network’s dispensing of more than 140,000 doses.

Two of those events happened at PNC Park in Pittsburgh in February, resulting in 6,000 people receiving the vaccine.

Tuesday’s clinic in Monroeville will be the network’s eighth mass-vaccination event hosted since February, the organization’s news release said.

“The covid-19 pandemic has challenged our community in so many ways. At the Monroeville Chamber of Commerce, we believe it is critically important for us to partner with other community leaders to help the pandemic come to an end,” said Christopher Trombetta, the Monroeville Area Chamber of Commerce’s board chairman.

AHN and the chamber also partnered with Sewickley-based Prospera Health & Hospitality Services to disinfect the Monroeville Convention Center before Tuesday’s event begins.

Don Andrejzwski of Prospera said the company’s “Rover UV Autonomous disinfection Robot” will be used to disinfect the area in the convention center that will be used for vaccinations. He said ultraviolet technology has been used for 25 years to disinfect operating rooms in hospitals.

“This will be an added measure of mitigation to keep everyone safe,” he said in a statement.

Michael Vento, the convention center’s general manager, said he is thrilled to be hosting the vaccination event.

“Our building has been an integral part of the community for many years. We always want to do our part to assist in any way we can whenever there is a need,” he said.

AHN hosts appointment-only vaccinations at its hospitals around the region. Eligible high-risk people with a MyChart account will be alerted when new appointments are available. Appointments can then be scheduled online or over the phone.