EASTON, Pa. - In another sign of moving on from the COVID-19 pandemic, Northampton County is closing its COVID vaccination and testing sites.
They’re scheduled to close next Saturday, June 1.
County Executive Lamont McClure made the announcement in a Friday news release.
The sites have operated for more than three years in a partnership with the county Department of Community and Economic Development, Emergency Management Services, and Lehigh Valley Hospital-Coordinated Health Allentown Hospital.
McClure said the vaccination site, LVPG Internal Medicine-Pine Street at 325 Pine St. in Easton, and walk-in testing centers at Bangor ExpressCARE, Bethlehem Township ExpressCARE and Palmer Township ExpressCARE, have played a critical role in the region's response to the pandemic.
"The COVID-19 vaccine continues to be the most effective way to protect each other from severe illness and death,” McClure said in the release. “I extend our deepest gratitude to LVH-CHA for their unwavering dedication in providing vaccination and testing services to Northampton County residents and employees for four years."
Since the pandemic began, more than 50,000 Pennsylvanians have died from COVID and over 3.5 million cases have been reported, according to Johns Hopkins University and Medicine.
Since the pandemic began in 2020, more than 50,000 Pennsylvanians have died from COVID and over 3.5 million cases have been reported, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center operated by Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.
Said McClure: "We will never be able to measure the number of lives that were potentially saved or the significant impact this partnership had on the thousands of county residents who utilized the testing site. I would be remiss if I did not express gratitude to the LVHN health care workers who administered the tests and vaccinations."
He said the closings mark the end of a significant chapter in the county’s COVID-19 response.
Several health care providers supply testing and vaccination options.
