PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- The Department of Public Health opened its first community-based COVID-19 vaccine clinic on Tuesday in North Philadelphia.
Health Commissioner Dr. Tom Farley personally welcomed 99-year-old Alma Ross to the Martin Luther King Older Adult Center
"You’re going to be our first customer today," Farley said.
It's not as if she hadn't been there plenty of times before.
"How long have you been coming to this center?" he asked.
"Forty, 50 years," Ross said. "I live just across the street over there."
She is exactly the kind of person leaders had in mind when they chose to put the city's first clinics in three neighborhood sites.
City Council President Darrell Clarke, who represents the district where the King center is located, says it makes more sense than drive-throughs at stadiums.
"The people live here, and we need to be doing this throughout the city to make sure we give this opportunity to the residents of our community," Clarke said.
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The health department says it has committed to opening three clinics that can vaccinate up to 500 people each per day. They'll each run once a week until they're no longer needed. The hope is to add other sites over time.
The next clinics to open will be on Thursdays in Feltonville and on Saturdays in West Philadelphia.
The clinics, right now, are for people over age 75 or who have underlying health conditions. They can sign up with everyone else on the city's website, or by calling 311, and then are given appointments.
Ross got the call on Saturday to come to this first clinic.
"I’m a little leery, but everybody else is taking it, and they're not complaining," she said. "So I might as well join the club."
Ross says she’ll be happy to get back to the center for club meetings and line dances -- after everyone has their second dose.