Mayor Kenney tours COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Pennsylvania Convention Center

PHILADELPHIA - Mayor Kenney toured the Health Department’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the Pennsylvania Convention Center Wednesday as the city continues to deal with the fallout from the Philly Fighting COVID partnership. 

As a part of the tour, Mayor Kenney and Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley held a press conference and took questions on the city's ongoing vaccination efforts. 

"I wish we could give this vaccine to everyone in the city of Philadelphia today but I can't, it's still going to take months, but we will get there," Farley said.

The city is making efforts to ensure thousands of patients who received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine from the recently defunct Philly Fighting COVID mass vaccination clinic will get their crucial second dose on time. 

After the debacle, Mayor Kenney wrote in part: "I was relieved to learn that PFC was only allotted approximately six (6) percent of our total vaccine allocation. Still, this six percent represents thousands of Philadelphians eager to get their second dose." 

He also added that he wanted the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to hold special clinics ensuring that those who got their first vaccinations from Philly Fighting COVID were able to get their second doses. 

"This is an important step in doing right by our residents and restoring faith in the city's COVID response," Kenney said

In the aftermath, Kenney ordered all of the doses reserved for Philly Fighting COVID to be reallocated to other health care organizations, including the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium. 

Meanwhile, the city says it will soon seek proposals from organizations hoping to run mass vaccination clinics. This time around, Philadelphia's vetting process includes a review team with non-health department staff. 

The health department will also run three new clinics and three follow up clinics per week around the city, and they are encouraging hospitals to run their own mass vaccination sites. 

"We do have a plan and it always envisioned that there would be other organizations running mass clinics in addition to the clinics that are run by the health department," Farley said.

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