Thousands more doses of covid-19 vaccines will arrive in Pennsylvania, with more than half reserved for health workers awaiting their second-dose dual-dose vaccination, said Dr. Health Minister Rachel Levine said Monday.
So far, 135,044 people across the state have received the vaccine in the first phase. A federal partnership with Walgreens and CVS has caused the businesses to enter into 115 skilled nursing homes to vaccinate staff and residents. Levine said the department is awaiting a report indicating exactly how many people were vaccinated in the process.
Levine said 166,725 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will arrive this week, of which 97,500 are reserved for health workers waiting for their second shot. She said 80,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine are also expected.
For the time being, the vaccines remain reserved for those covered in phase “1A” of the state’s vaccination plan – mainly health care workers and long-term care workers and residents.
Levine said there is no way to predict when the state will move into phase ‘1B’, which includes a bunch of workers considered essential workers and people over 75.
“Phase 1A started a few weeks ago, and we’m just working to speed up 1A,” she said. ‘I can not tell you when 1B will start. It will totally depend on how much vaccine we get. ”
And that, she said, can vary, as states are at the mercy of Operation Warp Speed when it comes to allocating, timing and delivering it.
“It makes planning challenging (and) it also increases the time it takes to administer the vaccine,” Levine said. She noted that the health workers administering the vaccine also care for patients.
Commonwealth Media Services
Department of Health, dr. Rachel Levine, at the virtual media briefing on Monday, January 4th.
What is clear, she said, is that it will probably take months before any vaccine is available to the general public, which means that many mitigation measures will be in place for some time. This includes home counseling and the assignment to wear masks when you are out of the house or with someone outside your household.
A number of temporary restrictions expired on Monday morning, ending the closure of gyms, casinos, reception halls and indoor dining for three weeks.
Levine said there are no specific number of cases or measures the state is paying attention to over the lifting of further mitigation measures.
“We certainly do not have a specific criterion,” she said, noting that an increase in cases could come after weeks of holiday travel.
Across the state, more than 665,000 cases of covid-19 have been reported, and more than 16,000 people have died. While the two-day new case seemed low Monday total – 7,805 over 48 hours – it is unlikely to be an accurate version, Levine said. She pointed to holidays and technical maintenance of the state’s reporting system.
“We believe they will be slightly higher than normal tomorrow,” she said. She said they also suspect the number of deaths reported in the coming days will be a bump due to overdue reports during the holidays.
Locally, the number of new cases also appeared low on Monday, while Allegheny County reported 852 new cases over the past two days. Allegheny County Department of Health officials, referring to the limited availability of tests over the past week, said the number “probably does not reflect a decrease in the spread of the virus.” Officials said they expected an increase in cases due to people traveling during the holidays.
In Allegheny County, 56,262 cases of the virus have been reported since the pandemic began, and 982 people have died.
State health officials reported Monday that 359 new coronaviruses had been reported in Westmoreland County in the past two days. Since March, more than 20,000 cases have been diagnosed in the country.
Megan Guza is a staff writer for Tribune Review. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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