Medic One among ambulance companies providing vaccines to homebound residents
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When Excela Health, the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety and the United Way began implementing a program to bring the coronavirus vaccine to homebound adults, Murrysville Medic One officials jumped in with both feet.
“The medics have to be trained on how to do them and complete the paperwork,” Medic One Director Darrick Gerano said. “Once that happens, the Department of Public Safety provides a list of homebound patients who have signed up for vaccines, and that gets divided up by service area.”
Medic One officials reach out, schedule an appointment and are able to show up and provide the first shot of the Moderna vaccine.
They will return 28 days later to administer the second dose.
Gerano said he was surprised by how few ambulance services initially signed up for the program.
“It was Mutual Aid Ambulance, us, North Huntingdon, Penn Township and Rostraver,” Gerano said. Medic One officials have administered vaccines to 10 patients so far.
Dr. Carol Fox, chief medical officer at Excela Health, said eight companies initially signed up.
“We would welcome ongoing participation of any local EMS provider that would like to assist,” Fox said. “As we move forward, we anticipate additional needs as we are consistently identifying additional pockets of individuals who would like to receive the vaccine.”
As of June 15, more than 146,000 Westmoreland County residents have been fully vaccinated, and another 31,039 have been partially vaccinated, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
Throughout the pandemic, in Westmoreland County there have been 23,077 confirmed covid-19 cases, 11,262 probable cases, 101,028 negative tests and 771 deaths since the outbreak began, according to state health department data.
Statewide, more than 11 million Pennsylvanians have been either fully or partially vaccinated.
In addition to the program for homebound individuals, the Westmoreland County Transit Authority is also able to arrange door-to-door transportation service for seniors, those with disabilities and those eligible for medical assistance transportation through its GO Westmoreland program.