City opens 8th mass vaccination site in West Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia is making progress on ramping up the vaccine rollout as the city opens its eighth vaccination site.
The Salvation Army is often a "lifeline" for those who’ve fallen on hard times and on Friday its West Philly center offered "lifesaving" vaccine.
"We refuse to allow the darkness to pass us. We are leaning-in with light, love and compassion," Major Tawny Cowen-Zanders said.
It was the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine loaded into 500 syringes at the West Corps Community Center on the 5500 block of Market Street. This is the city’s eighth mass vaccination site opening at an anxious time of growing COVID cases.
"Case rates are rising now faster than they’ve risen for months up to more than 400 cases per day," Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said.
The spike in the virus adds urgency in the race to vaccinate the city’s 1.2 million residents. Farley reports Philly has put 470,000 first shots into arms and 192,000 second doses.
Declaring victory over the virus remains a long slog. To convince the vaccine-hesitant, the city will pour $1.2 million into a media campaign called "Vax. Up Philly."
Ala Stanford is doing her part.
"Excited, optimistic about our new normal and getting some freedom back into our lives," Dr. Ala Stanford said.
Speaking on Good Day Philadelphia, the leader of the much praised Black Doctors Consortium planned to jab 2,000 Friday in North Philly.
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