Geisinger establishes online resource center for COVID-19 vaccinations
Front-line health care workers among first to receive vaccine based on Pennsylvania DOH guidance
Geisinger will administer vaccines in accordance with state and federal guidelines. The Pennsylvania DOH has recommended health care systems prioritize vaccinating their own employees. In accordance with these guidelines, Geisinger will begin to provide vaccines to its front-line staff who provide significant care to patients with COVID-19 and to other front-line staff in critical departments. Vaccine eligibility will expand as supplies and distribution protocols allow.
The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses of the same vaccine which must be given between 26 and 30 days apart. Geisinger is expected to receive 2,000 – 3,000 vaccine doses in this initial shipment and will begin providing vaccines to eligible employees within days of receiving the first allotment.
Despite the anticipated distribution of a vaccine, it’s not a signal to end the preventive measures we can take to stop the spread of the virus. It’s expected that vaccines will not be widely available to the public until spring or summer of 2021. This means at no time — before, during or after — receiving a vaccine should people stop wearing a mask, avoiding large and small gatherings, physical distancing and handwashing.
Geisinger continues to see rising rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations and positive test results across its hospital system. In the past two weeks, Geisinger is averaging more than one positive COVID-19 admission per hour to its hospitals, seeing more than 300 new positive outpatient COVID-19 tests per day, and has a positive testing rate close to 25 percent, meaning 1 in 4 people you encounter in the community may be infected with COVID-19.
About Geisinger
Geisinger is among the nation’s leading providers of value-based care, serving 1.2 million people in urban and rural communities across Pennsylvania. Founded in 1915 by philanthropist Abigail Geisinger, the nonprofit system generates $10 billion in annual revenues across 126 care sites — including 10 hospital campuses — and Geisinger Health Plan, with more than half a million members in commercial and government plans. Geisinger College of Health Sciences educates more than 5,000 medical professionals annually and conducts more than 1,400 clinical research studies. With 26,000 employees, including 1,700 employed physicians, Geisinger is among Pennsylvania’s largest employers with an estimated economic impact of $15 billion to the state’s economy. On March 31, 2024, Geisinger became the first member of Risant Health, a new nonprofit charitable organization created to expand and accelerate value-based care across the country. Learn more at geisinger.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.
