Winter storm won't halt plans for covid-19 vaccines at Allegheny County sites

Allegheny County Health Department planned to continue dispensing covid-19 vaccinations Monday and Tuesday, despite a winter storm that is expected to drop snow and ice across the region.

Clinics are expected to be open Monday in Monroeville and Tuesday in Monroeville and Castle Shannon — although the schedule of appointments is already full.

Appointments will be announced through Allegheny Alerts as they become available.

In Castle Shannon, the clinic inside the fire department at 3600 Library Road, opens Tuesday for people 65 and older.

Appointments opened Feb. 13 and filled up within 10 minutes of registration opening. Traffic on the website crashed the landing page for a short period and more than five hours after the appointments were filled, county officials said phones at the fire department were ringing off the hook from people who are still seeking to schedule the shots.

People can check availability by clicking here or by calling 2-1-1.

There will be no on-site registration or walk-up appointments.

County spokeswoman Amie Downs said the health department is putting a plan together for appointments that are missed because of weather.

People who can’t make it to their appointment shouldn’t cancel unless it is no longer needed.

“Those individuals who do not show for their appointment will be contacted by the department to arrange for rescheduling using the information that was provided in the registration process,” Downs said.

The county in late January opened its first clinic in the DoubleTree Hotel near the Monroeville Mall to serve people age 65 and older, with a limited number of appointments for the Moderna vaccine.

It was the first large-scale option in the region for anyone over 65 to receive a vaccine.