COVID-19 Vaccine Information

September 27, 2022

Call the COVID Vaccine Hotline at (570) 253-8197 or email covidvaccine@wmh.org to register.

September 8, 2022

Wayne Memorial Opens Appointments for Bivalent COVID Booster Clinics

Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers (WMCHC) will be offering both Pfizer and Moderna bivalent vaccines starting September 21^st in Honesdale and September 28^th in Lords Valley. In order to meet demand, WMCHC decided to reopen its public clinics specifically for these booster doses.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends bivalent booster doses (Pfizer-BioNTech) for anyone 12 years and older and (Moderna) 18 years and older who has completed their primary series and is at least two months out from their primary or first-round booster vaccination.

Booster shots for adults and children age 12 and over will be offered at the Stourbridge Professional Complex, 600 Maple Avenue, Suite 4, in Honesdale on the 1^st and 3^rd Wednesday of the month and at the Pike County Training Center, 135 Pike County Blvd in Lords Valley the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesdays.

“The clinics will be held on Wednesdays through the end of October,” stated Erica Brown, development manager, WMCHC. “If patient demand remains high, we will extend public clinics into November. Otherwise we may transition to giving them only at the scheduled office clinics.”

COVID booster appointments must be made online by visiting Wayne Memorial’s website, www.wmh.org and clicking on SCHEDULE A COVID VACCINE - Wayne Memorial Hospital (wmh.org)  Patients are reminded to bring their vaccine card, insurance card and ID.

WMCHC continues to offer pediatric doses of COVID 19 vaccine for ages 6 months and older at its pediatric offices and the primary series vaccine for adults at most of its Family Health Centers. A list of days, times, office locations and information on how to make an appointment for those shots can also be found at Wayne Memorial’s Schedule a COVID Vaccine page.

WMCHC is a Federally Qualified Health Center clinically affiliated with Wayne Memorial Health System, Inc. For information on all WMCHC services, visit www.wmchc.net or call 570-253-8390.

Updated August, 5, 2022
New COVID Vaccine Novavax Available in Honesdale

Recommended by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) for individuals 18 and older, the new COVID vaccine, Novavax is available Fridays at Highland Physicians Family Health Center, a Wayne Memorial Community Health Center.

Novavax is administered in a two-dose series three weeks apart. Novavax is not an mRNA vaccine like Pfizer or Moderna. It is a “protein subunit” vaccine made from moths and tree bark. According to the CDC, Novavax includes harmless pieces of the virus – the spike proteins—that causes COVID-19. After vaccination, the body creates an immune response to these protein pieces, which help protect you from getting sick with COVID-19 in the future.

Protein subunit vaccines are already used for other diseases, such as hepatitis B.

Novavax does not contain eggs, preservatives, latex or metals. It was approved for emergency use by the Food & Drug Administration and recommended in July by the CDC.  It has been in widespread use in other countries since last year.

To make an appointment, call Highland at 570-251-6500. 

Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers, a network of providers clinically affiliated with Wayne Memorial Hospital, is also working to permit Novavax scheduling online at SCHEDULE A COVID VACCINE - Wayne Memorial Hospital (wmh.org).

The Pike County Office of Emergency Management will be delivering its final round of COVID-19 booster vaccine for homebound individuals in Pike County on July 27, 2022. Contact Tim Knapp at 570-296-6714 to schedule a booster for yourself or a homebound family member or friend.

COVID Vaccine for Young Children Available Through WMCHC
Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers (WMCHC) is now offering both Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to children as young as 6 months of age in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recent recommendation. Vaccines are offered through WMCHC’s pediatric health centers.

The schedule is as follows: Pfizer only for all ages at Honesdale Pediatric Center 1837 Fair Avenue, Honesdale, Wednesdays and Thursdays, phone: 570-253-5838; Moderna for ages 6 months to 5 years only - Waymart Pediatric Center, 27B Woodlands Drive, Waymart, Thursdays, phone: 570-488-9550; Moderna for ages 6 months to 5 years only - Sterling Pediatric Center, 62 Industrial Park Road, Lake Ariel, Wednesdays, phone: 570-689-7565. The Pike Pediatric Center located in Lords Valley is not offering pediatric COVID vaccines at this time, however, is expect to do so in the near future.

According to WMCHC Pediatric Practice Administrator Linda Penwarden, the allocations are based mostly on storage requirements. The Pfizer stock is kept at the Honesdale site, but can be delivered if necessary to Waymart or Sterling for administration.

Pediatric vaccine administration is by office appointment only. Children do not have to be patients of WMCHC. Parents are asked to bring the child’s insurance card with them.

For information regarding COVID vaccine availability for adult patients, please visit www.wmh.org and click on SCHEDULE A COVID VACCINE button at the top of the home page.

WMCHC is a federally qualified health center clinically affiliated with Wayne Memorial Health System, Inc. For more information on all services, visit www.wmchc.net.

Updated April 21, 2022

COVID Booster News from Wayne Community Health Centers

Fourth COVID Vaccine Dose Available at Community Health Centers 

Individuals age 50 and older or those with underlying conditions may make an appointment to receive an additional booster of the COVID-19 vaccine through Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers’ primary care offices.  This would be a fourth dose of Moderna or Pfizer, or a third dose (second booster) of Johnson & Johnson.  The vaccines are recommended at least four months after receiving the last dose of any of these federally-approved vaccines.

WMCHC Medical Director James Cruse, MD, calls these booster injections acceptable but not required for those who are not at high risk. However, he indicates that individuals who are most vulnerable due to either an existing medical condition or COVID exposure risk should seek out the additional booster at this time.

“In patients with significant underlying risk factors such as diabetes, cancer, heart or lung disease, age over 80 or on immune suppressing meds, I recommend going ahead and getting the booster,” stated Dr. Cruse. “I am also recommending the booster in eligible patients who have a high risk of exposure.”

Dr. Cruse went on to say, “with case levels are at their lowest point since last summer, I am also recommending my patients who are not at high risk of exposure or severe outcome wait to get this booster until cases are rising again.”

To make an appointment visit www.wmchc.net and click on the SCHEDULE A VACCINE BUTTON at the top of the page.  Please note that the only WMCHC office offering J & J is the Hamlin Family Health Center and it will not be available after April 22.

For those without internet access, please call 570-253-8197 for assistance.