Allegheny Health Network has made a halt to the appointment of covid-19 vaccines due to a supply problem, hospital leaders said Friday as other health systems in the region face greater demand for the shots.
Excela Health officials said they could not extend the distribution of vaccines to people who are not health workers.
AHN has been administering approximately 35,000 doses since mid-December and is planning another 26,000 with its current vaccine supply. The leaders said that the total supply of the network has been allocated for now and that it can no longer accommodate additional appointments for the time being.
“At the moment, a message on the networking site reads: ‘AHN has scheduled all of our available Covid-19 vaccine for distribution and we have temporarily disabled our scheduling portal. ‘
The message explains that the network expects to receive more doses in the “near future” and is in the process of switching to a new website portal for scheduling.
The unveiling of the network comes just days after health officials in Pennsylvania expanded the Phase 1A vaccination to include people over 65 and people between the ages of 16-64 with certain underlying health conditions, including cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes and many more. other.
Since the state announced Tuesday, hospital leaders at various systems in the region have spoken out about how the state’s offer could not match such a wide expansion. Meanwhile, the systems send thousands of e-mails and calls from the pass eligible.
AHN quickly issued a statement on Tuesday explaining that the network is only eligible for people over 75 and those who have received cancer treatment in the past year.
Friday’s announcement appears to be another benchmark for managing the network’s available offering.
“We understand the public’s concern and frustration over the limited availability of the vaccine and appreciate everyone’s patience as we work hard to distribute the vaccine as quickly and efficiently as we can to those who need it most,” he said. said officials in a statement. .
AHN is not the only health system in the region struggling with an influx of people hoping to be vaccinated now that fitness has expanded.
UPMC is also not planning vaccinations for doses it does not have, a spokesman said. The process is to collect vaccination requests, along with information to determine where applicants fall within the Phase 1A qualification.
“Then we contact those who have the highest priority and schedule them for vaccination with the stock we already have or what we said we would receive,” spokesman Taylor Andres said. “We have found that this process best alleviates the expectations of the community management and disappointment because we do not have to cancel already scheduled vaccinations.”
In Westmoreland County, Excela Health is devising a new approach to taking in new patients and being eligible for vaccine. But for now, the number of health workers needing vaccines has “exceeded” the vaccine supply.
“Currently, we are unable to offer vaccine to additional individuals,” said Dr. Carol Fox, chief medical officer, said. ‘We are investigating what options there may be for additional distribution sites and how to best determine the underlying conditions. There is a lot of logistical work and everything depends on our ability to receive vaccines from the state. ”
Teghan Simonton is an author of the staff of Tribune-Review. You can contact Teghan at 724-226-4680, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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