YEADON, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Delaware County has opened its first public wellness center in Yeadon, where residents can now sign up to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The wellness center, previously housed a supermarket, is located in a shopping center off of Chester Avenue.
“In our wellness center, we needed so much room for cold storage, and a supermarket already had that area built out for refrigeration,” said Dr. Monica Taylor, vice chair of Delaware County Council. “It turned out being perfect for what we are doing right now.”
The former supermarket-turned-wellness center is also operating as a vaccine storage facility.
Most notably, the site will soon become the headquarters of the county’s first-ever health department.
Delaware County is the only county in the greater Philadelphia area without its own dedicated health department. The department is expected to be up and running in about a year.
“We just actually received today from the state our certificate of approval to start forming the health department,” said Taylor. “Our next step will be to do a resolution to form a board of health. We’ll be forming that board of health at the end of February. The Board of Health will then do a national search for a director. So hopefully we will have that director in place by late spring, early summer, and then that director will start to build out the health department.
“In the meantime, we’ll also be building the programs and getting those approved through the state.”
Taylor expects the health department to be fully operational by January 2022.
“We are doing more of a community and holistic look,” she added. “We are going to have to organize and make sure there’s communication, there’s data, and how we address health inequities in the county, and also to help address food insecurity, housing, along with mental health — all of those.”
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Until then, Delaware County will continue to utilize resources from the Chester County Health Department.
Vaccine appointments in Delaware County can be made through Chesco’s pre-registration process. Pennsylvanians can also look for a vaccine provider through the state's website.
Vaccine availability is still limited, as supply from the federal government to the state of Pennsylvania remains low.