Tiffany Husak, left, a nursing student at the Community College of Allegheny County, receives her first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, during a vaccination clinic hosted by the University of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny County Health Department at the Petersen Events Center, in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. The clinic, staffed by Pitt faculty and students from Pharmacy, Nursing, Medicine, and Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, will vaccinate some 800 personnel, over two days, who are work in healthcare roles, including students from Chatham College, Community College of Allegheny County, Duquesne University, LaRoche University, Pittsburgh Technical College and Pitt who work with patients. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
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Sarah Boden covers health, science and technology for 90.5 WESA. Before coming to Pittsburgh in November 2017, she was a reporter for Iowa Public Radio where she covered a range of issues, including the 2016 Iowa Caucuses.
Sarah’s reporting has appeared on NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition Saturday and WBUR's Here and Now. She has won multiple awards, including a regional Edward R. Murrow for her story on a legal challenge to Iowa's felon voting ban.
Tiffany Husak, left, a nursing student at the Community College of Allegheny County, receives her first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, during a vaccination clinic hosted by the University of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny County Health Department at the Petersen Events Center, in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. The clinic, staffed by Pitt faculty and students from Pharmacy, Nursing, Medicine, and Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, will vaccinate some 800 personnel, over two days, who are work in healthcare roles, including students from Chatham College, Community College of Allegheny County, Duquesne University, LaRoche University, Pittsburgh Technical College and Pitt who work with patients. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
(Pittsburgh) — Daily coronavirus case counts in Allegheny County are finally on the decline, after weeks of going up.
During a Wednesday press conference, Dr. Debra Bogen, director of the county health department, said that at the beginning of April there were about 425 new cases a day. Now the county is tracking roughly 350 cases a day.
“But it’s still a significant number of people getting sick,” Bogen said. “And I’m going to remind you that we still are reporting deaths, nearly daily, from COVID-19 in our community.”
In order to defeat COVID, Bogen said a significant number of people need to get vaccinated soon. Less than half of county residents have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Public health experts say it’s important to make getting the vaccine as easy as possible. So, in addition to increasing the availability of walk-in appointments at county-run clinics, the health department is shifting away from large vaccination sites.
“[We’re] moving into more targeted, smaller events to reach populations of people who haven’t had access, or who really would like to have something right in their neighborhood,” Bogen said.
The county has already started this process with clinics at churches in the Hill District and McKeesport.
Transportation is a major barrier to accessing the vaccine for many people, so having a clinic within walking distance can be hugely beneficial. This is especially true for hourly workers, or people with physical disabilities.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
