WHYY
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COVID-19 vaccine seekers interact with FEMA volunteers at the clinic at Esperanza in North Philadelphia. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Vaccinations are back on track at Philadelphia’s second largest mass clinic, at Esperanza Charter School, after hundreds of appointments were rescheduled due to Tuesday’s announcement that further administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be put on hold temporarily. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health heeded the Food and Drug Administration recommendation, made out of an abundance of caution after six incidents of serious but rare blood clots were recorded in people who received the single-dose shot.
The new FEMA-supported site in North Philadelphia’s Hunting Park neighborhood had just launched over the weekend with an aim to even out the racial and ethnic distribution of the vaccines. The site, intentionally situated in a majority Hispanic neighborhood with low vaccine turnout so far, had been administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for its first three days. Unable to switch to another vaccine quickly enough to stay open Tuesday, the clinic had to shut its doors, forcing hundreds in the underserved area to wait another day for their shot.