HARRISBURG, Pa. Republicans blame Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration for slow vaccination against Pennsylvania, even though Wolf himself says insufficient supply is the real culprit, sparking a new political battle over who is to blame for the frustrations of in. eligible residents who are trying to be vaccinated.
GOP leaders in the House and Senate have singled out Wolf for the fact that Pennsylvania ranks last among the states in the vaccine administration. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state has managed to get less than half of the federal allotment of doses into people’s arms.
State health officials say about 720,000 Pennsylvania residents received at least one shot on Thursday, a fraction of the more than 4 million currently eligible.
“The deployment of this vaccine across the country is fraught with inconsistencies, fraud and a lack of transparency,” said Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland. ‘”
Wolf, in turn, said the Trump administration is vaccinating too much on vaccines, hampering Pennsylvania’s ability to vaccinate millions of people quickly.
In the waning days of Donald Trump’s presidency, when Pennsylvania followed the CDC’s leadership by expanding admission to people 65 and older and those with serious health conditions, it did so with the expectation that it would see a huge increase in its weekly vaccine allocation would get.
It did not happen.
“The biggest challenge we face is that we are not getting enough doses of vaccine to meet Pennsylvania’s needs,” Wolf said, adding: “It was frustrating and it’s disappointing because we all trusted the federal government. to make sure we have the vaccines. ”
President Joe Biden, who took office last week, has vowed to step up deliveries to the states. Pennsylvania expects to receive 160,000 doses next week, up from 140,000 doses in previous weeks, according to the Department of Health. But it is still much less than the 705,000 doses requested by vaccine providers.
Bill Johnston-Walsh, director of the GAARP in Pennsylvania, said his office has received calls from members who are confused and frustrated about their inability to go through to a provider and then make an appointment.
One of its members, a resident of the Pittsburgh area, said he made 10 or 15 calls to make an appointment for her elderly husband – in Erie, a few hours away.
AARP wants the Wolf administration to set up a toll-free number that allows older residents to be linked to a vaccine provider. At present, Pennsylvania relies on a distribution system that includes hospitals, doctor’s offices, pharmacy chains, municipal health departments, and even grocery stores.
“What we’re asking is a person who’s on the phone to answer their questions or help them navigate the system, instead of what you’re doing now, going through one pharmacy or community health center to another, said Johnston. -Walsh said.
As a political issue, criticism of the implementation of Wolf’s vaccine is a shift for the IDP.
The Republicans, who have the majority in both legislative chambers, spent almost a year attacking Wolf’s efforts to defeat the coronavirus. They fought his pandemic measures in court, saying he had achieved too much by closing businesses, ordering people to stay home and placing the size of the rallies. They are posting a constitutional amendment that may limit Wolf’s emergency power. Some of them refuse to wear a mask in public.
On vaccines, however, Republicans have insisted that Wolf is not doing enough. The state health committee on Monday scheduled a hearing to investigate the deployment of the vaccine.
“The confusing and short-sighted leadership of the government has caused significant public anxiety,” said Kerry Benninghoff, R-Center.
Dr Mark Roberts, director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health’s Public Health Dynamics Lab, said it was difficult to blame the state, given the federal government’s priority in vaccine distribution.
The criticism is not limited to Wolf’s Republican antagonists. Last week, Democratic Senator Lindsey Williams said the state’s vaccine distribution system needs more transparency and clarity. Johnston-Walsh, the AARP director, wrote to Wolf last week that “Pennsylvania has a logistical problem,” which he says is “simply unacceptable to AARP and should be for all Pennsylvaniaers.”
The state health department says CDC statistics do not tell the whole story. Although doses can be referred to as ‘allotted’, it may take a few days before they arrive. It takes one to three days to report that they fired the shots. Pennsylvania, too, is holding back the second doses, while other states are pushing them all out at the same time.
But Wolf, who spoke to reporters this week, acknowledges the work ahead.
“We want to do a much better job than we do, and we will continue to improve the process,” he said.
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