Five hundred people got their first dose of the Moderna vaccine at the launch of a drive-thru clinic Wednesday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.

The hospital system is partnering with the Pittsburgh Penguins to continue a covid-19 community vaccination event series. On Monday, the two teamed up to vaccinate more than 1,000 people during a clinic at PPG Paints Arena.

“If we can increase the number of vaccines we give a day, we will do that, based on vaccine supply,” Susan Hoolahan, president of UPMC Passavant, said. “And we may also look to add another day. I think this is just the first of many clinics that we’ll have at Lemieux.”

Wednesday’s clinic is the first drive-through vaccine event UPMC has hosted – and one of the first in the region altogether. Hoolahan said there are many assets to such a strategy, especially for Phase 1A individuals, who are often older or have medical conditions that make it more difficult to get around. Providing an option where they don’t have to leave their car, she said, is a “clear advantage,” and it also encourages efficiency when inoculating such a large crowd.

“It also does allow us to avoid people having to wait and stand in line,” she said.

Social distancing requirements for mass vaccine clinics necessitate a very large space, she noted, while the size of the population calls for more and more volunteers, signage and other resources.

“We really think the drive-through is going to help the individuals coming in from the community, make it easier for them to have access to the vaccine; and we also think we’ll be able to get large numbers of people through…and probably need fewer resources,” Hoolahan said.

On Wednesday, signage around the roundabout directed clinic patients to a specific parking lot in the complex where they could get their shot. Then, they were directed to another parking area where they could sit for 15 minutes – the standard time clinicians use to monitor for any immediate side effects of the vaccine. Hoolahan said the complex was the ideal location because of its layout around a roundabout, which eases traffic flow.

The site also creates more vaccine access for residents of northern Allegheny County, and parts of Beaver and Butler counties, she said. UPMC Passavant holds a vaccine clinic three days a week in a conference center at Cumberland Woods, a senior living community. St. Margaret’s also holds a clinic at its outpatient center in Harmar, UPMC South Side is a testing/vaccine site and UPMC East will be starting up a clinic in the coming days, Hoolahan said. The system has additional plans of expanding pop-up clinics in “under-resourced communities,” she said, to reach individuals who may not have reliable transportation.

“This is just a really nice option, something we can do to support our northern Pittsburgh communities,” Hoolahan said.

“We know that the North Hills is a pretty populated area and there’s a lot of folks, also, that are older,” she added. “We’re thrilled that we’re able to add this clinic at Lemieux to the one that we already have at the Cumberland Center, because we know it’s going to help increase the numbers.”

More than 400,000 people have signed up to receive a vaccine at any of the different UPMC clinics, through the system’s online scheduling tool, a spokeswoman for the system said. There are nearly 60,000 doses scheduled to be administered systemwide — and another drive-through clinic is being planned for next week at the Lemieux complex.

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