Faced with diminishing demand, the Vaccinate Lancaster County community vaccination center at Park City may close earlier than originally planned, officials said Tuesday.
At Tuesday's county commissioners' work session, Commissioner Craig Lehman said there has been "some discussion" about moving the closure date from June 30 to early June.
Later Tuesday, he wrote on social media: "My information from this weekend and confirmed again today is that the CVC will operate until the beginning of June."
Brett Marcy, the center's spokesperson, said no definite closure date has been established.
"The Lancaster County Community Vaccination Center is expected to continue operations at least through the beginning of June," he said. "No decision has been made on a closure prior to June 30."
The vaccination site opened March 10. At first, demand for vaccination dramatically outpaced the limited vaccine supplies it received from the state.
But the balance has shifted in recent days. Last week, the state provided more than 21,000 first doses to the site, but only about 6,000 patients turned up to receive them. This week the center cut its first-dose request to the state to just 3,500.
Sites across Pennsylvania are reporting similar slowdowns.
The wind-down in demand bodes poorly for efforts to reach herd immunity, which experts say would require 70% to 80% vaccination.
As of Wednesday, just over 217,000 Lancaster County residents are partly or fully vaccinated. That's equal to about 40% of the county's total population, and is 50% of the population over age 16, which is the threshold for vaccination under current guidance.
Pennsylvania's percentages are similar: 40% of its total population is at least partly vaccinated, and 49% of the population over age 16.
