Company building drive-thru COVID vaccination site in Montco, while waiting for vaccine supply

Source, Fox 29 Philadephia, Hank Flynn

Just outside the King of Prussia Mall, construction is taking place.

The company doing the job is hoping to get COVID-19 vaccines and they hope that if they get approved, they will play a role in helping more people get vaccinated.

“The car-based model is extremely efficient and, frankly, in some cases, a lot safer for the patient. So, I really believe it could be used as the backbone of the nation’s vaccine strategy,” said 15 to Know CEO Mike Dershowitz.

The scope of the thing is more apparent from the sky. FOX 29 Drone Team video shows two 30 foot high arcs and other structures in the parking lot of the old Babies R Us at the King of Prussia Mall. 15 to Know CEO Mike Dershowitz knows it’s a calculated gamble to build a car-based vaccination site at the location, but he’s done the calculations.

“We do a lot of testing out of that location and have been already. So, it serves two purposes until the vaccine supply is there and we can really begin operating at up to 3,000 a day, which is what that site is built to handle,” Dershowitz explained.

How does he know vaccines will come? He doesn’t, technically. But, the company has been vaccinating people on an insurance-based model already, doses permitting. The idea is to have the best system ready when the vaccine floodgates open just weeks away.

“I think in about a month, as the federal government moves additional doses through the system, the state’s going to have many more options of what vaccines to give to people. And, we’ll be ready. We already are able to give both Moderna and Pfizer, meaning our vaccination sites are ready to handle it,” Dershowitz added.

It won’t be a county site like the ones at Montco Community College and Norristown Area High School. Both were open today and will be through Thursday, according to a county spokesperson who was clear that any doses given to 15 to Know would come from Harrisburg, not the county. And, the state health department explained in an email that limited doses don’t allow for large-scale vaccination clinics, yet, but the state does support such events. Planning is ongoing and community clinics are part of the plan.

“Obviously, we have to deal with the vaccine shortage, but what’s been clear to us is that it’s worth making the investment in order to be there if we’re needed and we hope that’ll be used, if we are,” Dershowitz went on.

There is a waiting list. People can sign up and wait for a text message as notification of an appointment.