UPMC St. Margaret Harmar Outpatient Center opens covid-19 vaccine clinic, doles out 600 doses a day

Retired nurse Audrey Wagner didn’t pay much attention when her husband dismissed the idea of getting a covid-19 vaccine.

“I knew we were getting it, there were no ifs about it,” said Wagner, 77, who spent more than three decades as a cardiac nurse at St. Francis, St. Margaret and Mercy hospitals.

“This is the thing that’s going to save all of us.”

The Wagners, who live in Hampton, didn’t have to travel far for a shot in their arms.

UPMC St. Margaret opened a clinic at its Harmar Outpatient Center along Mariner Court in an effort to ramp up access to community-based vaccinations.

In the first three weeks, clinicians have doled out up to 600 shots a day of Moderna immunizations as they work to reach under-resourced communities, Clinic Manager Rich Wallace said.

Aimed at serving people nearer to their homes and eliminating the angst of a mass clinic, the Harmar vaccine clinic is open 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, by appointment only, and sits in an easy-to-access spot just off Route 28 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Appointments are open to people who qualify for the state’s Phase 1A distribution, which includes health care workers, people 50 and older and people 16-64 with underlying health conditions that put them at risk for covid-19 complications.

In coming weeks, the number of people eligible for vaccination will dramatically increase, with Phase 1B opening Monday. That includes postal workers, manufacturing employees, clergy and additional frontline workers, according to the state Department of Health.

On April 19, all Pennsylvania adults will be eligible to schedule a vaccination, Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam announced this week.

Beam estimated that nearly 1 million people will become eligible with Phase 1B, and between 1.3 million and 1.7 million will become eligible with 1C on April 12. That group consists of workers “essential to continued critical infrastructure.”

UPMC St. Margaret President Dave Patton said response to the Harmar Outpatient Center clinic has been overwhelming.

“It’s been awesome,” Patton said, adding that the site has distributed just over 5,000 shots in its first few weeks. “It couldn’t be better, they get in and get right out. I think a lot of people are surprised they are able to get an appointment in a day or two.”

The efforts align with UPMC’s vaccination goal, which is simply to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible, he said.

“As soon as we get vaccine, we want to get it in people’s arms,” he said.

Systemwide, UPMC has administered 314,219 covid-19 vaccine doses as of March 31.

When supply is available, UPMC administers between 25,000 and 35,000 vaccines a week, with the capacity to administer 100,000 each week, Patton said.

People who have accessed the appointments in Harmar appreciate the clinic’s proximity to Route 28, which makes it a central location for residents from Monroeville to Pittsburgh alike, Patton said.

Operations have run smoothly, with close to zero wait time and patients in and out within about 20 minutes, Wallace said.

“We don’t have anyone waiting,” Wallace said. “They talk with their documenter, have their vaccine and schedule their second appointment. We love the community-based clinics because we get to connect with people and they couldn’t be more appreciative.”

Wagner agreed, saying that when she and her husband walked in, “it was like they were waiting just for us.”

That they were able to get the vaccine brought relief to the couple — who recently celebrated their 50th anniversary.

“My husband never even got a flu shot until we were married. His family didn’t believe in it,” Wagner said.

“I told him, ‘You better believe in it. Someone went through a lot of trouble to get that vaccine out there and we’re getting it.’”

Appointments will continue in Harmar as long as the vaccine is available, Wallace said.

People who qualify for a vaccine can register online or call 844-876-2822.