Community Health and Dental Provides Pandemic Resources for Ongoing Public Threat

Despite its exit from newspaper headlines and news service streams, the COVID-19 pandemic is still a public-health threat.

According to The New York Times, Pennsylvania still averages 869 new cases and 17 deaths per day.

Those fatalities continue, despite a Pa. vaccination rate of 72 percent, which places the Commonwealth only in the high teens in a ranking of state population inoculation rates.

The highest concentration of inoculated citizens is in Washington, D.C. (92 percent).

Community Health and Dental Care (CHDC) — in its ongoing efforts to encourage good health in Pottstown specifically and Montgomery County in general — is therefore maintaining several of its public services related COVID-19 initiatives.

For example:

• Free vaccinations and boosters remain available at the organization’s easily accessible site in the Coventry Mall. Bivalent boosters are available two months after the completion of a COVID vaccine series, and vaccination cards are required when reporting to a scheduled appointment. To reserve a date and time, email covidreg@ch-dc.org or call 484-941-9991
• Free N95 masks and COVID-19 rapid testing kits are available, by request, to patients and community members at all CHDC locations. Patients can request these supplies during a scheduled appointment or simply by stopping by. Nonpatients can visit one of the four the CHDC health centers
• Last, for residents who are hesitant to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, CHDC is interested in finding out why. To research the issue, it has developed an online survey. To participate, text DASH to 610-906-8371, and the questions — designed to take about three minutes to complete — will be sent.

In addition to these outreaches, the CHDC has free brochures that address other pandemic issues, including data for children.

These resources can be picked up at the CHDC site at 351 W. Schuylkill Rd., Pottstown, next to Dick’s Sporting Goods.

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Even when the World Health Organization declares the pandemic over, is public safety assured?