A month and a half ago I was a desperate man. Despite being listed as a COVID-19 vaccine provider on the Pennsylvania Department of Health website, my pharmacy had received only enough vaccine to immunize 100 patients. We had over 2,000 names on a waiting list for the vaccine and little hope that we’d see any vaccine from the Department of Health anytime soon. Although I knew that many of the people on our list were on other waiting lists as well, I also knew there were a significant number of our patients who were depending solely on our pharmacy to access the vaccine. We’d already lost too many patients to COVID-19. I had to do something.

I reached out to fellow pharmacist Bob Begliomini, who is senior vice president of operations for Lehigh Valley Health Network. He put me in touch with Brianna McCauley, who runs the LVHN Mobile COVID Vaccine Unit. The mobile unit typically serves nursing homes, personal care homes and senior high-rises. A community-based clinic (like what I was asking for) was not something they had done, but they agreed to consider my request. A week later, Brianna informed me that they could come to the Northern Lehigh area on the following Friday. All I had to do was secure a location to host the clinic and line up appointments.

On March 26, the LVHN COVID Vaccine Mobile Unit came to the Assumption BVM church in Slatington and administered vaccines to 140 of my most vulnerable patients. The group included 10 people over 90 years old and 35 more ages 80 to 89 years, as well as transplant patients, dialysis patients, patients on oxygen, in wheelchairs, and on walkers: people who were unable to secure an appointment or to travel to Allentown or Bethlehem to get the vaccine. Recently, LVHN returned to give the second dose of the vaccine to these patients.

I will be forever grateful to Bob, Brianna and LVHN for what they did for my patients.

Edward Bechtel

Slatington