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Adults, teens vaccinated at walk-up clinic at Montage Mountain

A pharmacy behind a mass vaccination clinic Tuesday in Lackawanna County decided to open up to patients ages 16 and up with or without an appointment.

SCRANTON, Pa. — No appointment was required for the clinic under the pavilion on Montage Mountain.

Organizers say they had 1,600 shots to give out on Tuesday, but by the morning, fewer than 80 people made appointments online, so they decided to make this a walk-up clinic.

We found people who said that convenience got them over the last hurdle of vaccine hesitancy.

Bob Hunt of Moscow admits he wasn't sure about getting the COVID-19 vaccine, but this week his feelings changed.

"My brother-in-law just came down with it yesterday, and he's actually in the hospital, not a good thing. So, we were up in the air on whether to go get it or not, and that made the decision," Hunt said.

It also helped that Hunt and his wife could just show up to this mass vaccination clinic on Montage Mountain without an appointment.

Medicap Pharmacy in Olyphant hosted the clinic, and with the help of county officials and volunteers, they plan to administer 1,600 shots of both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine.

Organizers decided to make this a walk-up clinic after online registration lagged. Medicap's owner says now that vaccine supply is up, demand seems to be going down.

"No question, the vaccine is available," Eric Pusey said. "We need arms."

So, they also opened the clinic up to teenagers eligible to receive the Pfizer shot.

"We are able to offer additional Pfizer does now for 16, 17, and 18 year olds. and that is so important, especially with the younger students and people who are being infected right now."

High school student Caroline Murray says her parents were eager to get her up here.

"It feels really good to be vaccinated, and I'm happy that I can help out the community by doing my part," Murray said.

The clinic at Montage is running until 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The organizers say if they're unable to use up all of the supply, they already have plans for additional smaller clinics this week and are confident they'll find all the arms they need.

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