Community Briefs | | thevalleyadvantage.com

Bivalent vaccines available

The Wright Center for Community Health is now administering the recently approved COVID-19 vaccine boosters that target the original strain of the coronavirus and the two omicron subvariants currently responsible for spreading the most illness.

Federal health officials last week authorized use of the new shots, called bivalent vaccines. They also are known simply as “updated boosters.”

These protectors — the first redesigned coronavirus vaccines to be released in America since the initial rollout in late 2020 — are intended to help contain a possible surge of new cases this fall and winter. Vaccines have proven to be the most powerful tool against the highly contagious virus, with demonstrated effectiveness during the pandemic in reducing severe illness, hospitalization and death.

The Moderna COVID-19 updated booster can be given as a single dose in adults ages 18 and older.

The Pfizer-BioNTech version of the updated booster can be given to individuals ages 12 years and up.

The doses can be received by anyone who has completed their initial shots, whether or not they have also received boosters, as long as their last shot was at least two months ago.

“Even now, COVID-19 continues to claim an average of more than 380 lives per day in the US,” said Dr. Jignesh Sheth, chief medical officer for The Wright Center for Community Health. “These updated boosters offer a defense against the most prevalent omicron variants, BA.4 and BA.5, to which people are susceptible today, especially if they have not yet received a booster or they got one a while ago and their immunity has waned.”

Patients can schedule appointments by visiting The Wright Center’s website at TheWrightCenter.org and using the express online scheduling service. They can choose to receive the booster shot with or without an office visit.

The Wright Center for Community Health, headquartered in Scranton, is a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike that currently operates eight primary care practices in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wayne counties.

The Wright Center provides comprehensive primary and preventive health services — including medical, dental, behavioral health, addiction and recovery, and infectious disease services — that cover the lifespan from pediatrics to geriatrics. The Wright Center serves the community, with a special emphasis on medically underserved populations. No patient is turned away due to an inability to pay.

Learn more about The Wright Center’s mission and integrated health care services by calling 570-230-0019 or visiting TheWrightCenter.org.

Local project gets grant

A project to renovate a Little League field, convert a tennis court into a pickleball court and more at Crystal Park in Dickson City received a $249,700 grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Gov. Tom Wolf recently announced about $90 million in grants for more than 330 projects across Pennsylvania.

Dickson City received the grant, which the borough will have to match, to make improvements in the park bounded by Doloff Drive and Shady Lane. Plans also call for renovating a basketball court there, building paths, fencing, lighting, landscaping and improving ADA access , as well as making improvements to parking and stormwater management.

Train ride to Carbondale offered

Join Steamtown NHS on Sept. 24 for a steam-powered excursion to Carbondale for the city’s Autumn Market.

The Baldwin Locomotive Works No. 26 will depart Steamtown NHS at 9:30 am, arriving to Carbondale around 11:15 am Passengers will then have a two-hour layover in Carbondale to enjoy events being offered. The returning train ride will depart Carbondale at 1:30 pm, arriving to Steamtown around 3:30 pm

In addition to Carbondale’s Autumn Market, S. Robert Powell, president of the Carbondale Historical Society and Museum, will be at the Carbondale Station to welcome passengers aboard Steamtown’s excursion, and to direct them to the center of town. Powell will lead a walk from the Carbondale Station to Main Street and the center of town, with a stop at Delaware & Hudson Caboose No. 35964, Carbondale City Hall and Memorial Park. The Carbondale Historical Society, located on the third floor of the Carbondale City Hall, will be open to visitors from 11:30 am to 1 pm; guided tours of the museum will be available.

Ticket prices for adults are $25; seniors 62 and up, $23; kids 3-11, $18 and children 2 and up, $1. Visitors can purchase advance tickets for this excursion online through recreation.gov or at the site’s information kiosk, credit card only, from 9 am to 5 pm daily.

Dentist joins Wright Center

Dr. Surbhi Abrol, a board-certified general practice dentist, has joined The Wright Center for Community Health where she is accepting new patients of all ages at Wright Center primary care practices in Lackawanna and Wayne counties.

The Wright Center for Community Health offers comprehensive dental services for the entire family, including emergency services and routine check-ups and cleanings, plus denture care, oral cancer screenings, extractions, fillings and X-rays, regardless of a patient’s insurance status or ability to pay. With a sliding-fee discount available, The Wright Center ensures high-quality oral care is affordable and accessible to everyone.

Abrol will see patients at the Mid Valley Practice, 5 S. Washington Ave., Jermyn; as well as the Hawley Practice, 103 Spruce St., Hawley; and Scranton Practice, 501 S. Washington Ave., Scranton. In addition, she will staff select pop-up dental clinics aboard the Driving Better Health mobile medical unit that will provide regional residents convenient access to dental care.

Born and raised in India, she is a graduate of Panjab University in Chandigarh, India, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in dental surgery. Abrol completed the prosthodontics and master of dental surgery program at Himachal Pradesh University in Sundernagar, India, where she graduated at the top of her class. In 2017, she completed her prosthodontics residency at the Himachal Dental College. Abrol earned her doctor of dental medicine degree at the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine.

The Wright Center’s new dentist most recently worked as an associate dentist at a private dental practice in Scranton.