March 2020 File Photo provided by Gov. Wolf
HARRISBURG – Frustration has been mounting among Pennsylvania residents 65 and older trying to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Now Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Aging Robert Torres are hoping some additional options can help.
In a joint news conference Thursday, Torres says PACE (the state’s prescription assistance program) has assembled a team of operators at its Harrisburg call center as a COVID specialty scheduling unit, “A dedicated unit for arranging vaccinations for PACE card holders. These operators will also be working with card holders to arrange transportation to the vaccination site, or eventually work with the PACE Pharmacy Network members to vaccinate at a card holder’s residence, if that’s necessary.”
In addition, Torres says PACE has formed a clinical team who will identify card members who are considered high risk and those members will then be contacted. Card holders can contact PACE at 1-800-225-7223.
Torres says the Pennsylvania Link to Aging and Disability Resource Center is also ready to take calls, “PA Link Counselors will assess the caller’s situation, offer guidance, and transfer them to a scheduling team. For those callers with transportation needs, the link counselors will also be able to contact PA Link partners and area agencies on aging at the local level to assist with coordinating transportation.”
That number to contact PA Link is 1-800-753-8827. Despite announcing these new options, Governor Wolf says there’s still a lot of work to do to improve high call volumes. He says the main issue with the entire vaccine distribution statewide continues to be limited supply.
