The allocation of vaccines to Western Pennsylvania hospitals is not enough to vaccinate everyone who qualifies, health care leaders said Tuesday.
Last week, civil servants further expanded Phase 1A of the distribution plan as health workers and long-term caregivers – to include people over 65 and people with different health care. The change came days after health officials learned that the federal supply of vaccine had been depleted, and that there were likely to be interruptions in supply. Some systems interrupted the appointment of vaccines last week because all available doses were taken into account.
And on Tuesday, Gov. Tom Wolf and Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam lamented a ‘frustrating’ supply issue with the vaccine in Pennsylvania.
Following repeated inquiries from the Tribune Review, a Department of Health spokesman said the expansion was done to align with the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and “because it fits Pennsylvania’s goal of implementing kovid-19 vaccinations in a way that prioritizes people., while keeping the vaccine supply limited, receiving the vaccine to maximize the benefits and reduce harm caused by the virus, promote justice, inequalities in the soften health and promote transparency. ”
But health experts say the expansion has done little to get vaccine for those who need it most, noting that nearly 4 million people are now eligible. Dr Don Whiting, chief medical officer of Allegheny Health Network, said AHN receives an average of about 10,000 doses a week, and their arrival is irregular. The network has the ability to administer about twice each week, if they only have the stock.
“There are several million people, so the numbers don’t match,” Whiting said. The state change in the age groups was driven by the federal change in the age groups, which was driven by a more national view of how things are going in different states. … I think the messages in the average person create confusion. ‘
Barry Ciccocioppo, a spokesman for the health department, said the state was asking the federal government for the maximum allocation of the vaccine available. The Commonwealth does not have its own vaccine supply, he said.
“We ask Pennsylvanians to be patient,” he said. “It’s a global pandemic and vaccine manufacturers are working to deliver doses around the world.”
Ciccocioppo said providers in the state receive a “steady stream” of about 140,000 doses per week. But health leaders in the region have indicated that the arrival of vaccine is much less predictable.
Dr Carol Fox, chief medical officer of Excela Health, said the system expects an additional allocation of vaccines in the coming weeks. “
“We do not know at the moment how often we can expect more awards,” she said in a statement. “We are hopeful that we will get the recipients of even more vaccines as the supply increases.”
Tami Minnier, head of quality at UPMC, said that the system had not yet received notice of when and how much new vaccine would support the expansion of phase 1A.
“We are eager to vaccinate more people in the communities we serve and have the infrastructure, staff and clinics to do so,” she said in a statement. “When we are informed that more vaccine is on the way to support the extended Phase 1A group, we will engage the public and give clear instructions on how to apply for vaccination.”
The latest update of the vaccine comes during a slow explosion of the vaccine which is affected by confusion and inconsistencies in distribution. Meanwhile, the US is rushing to administer vaccines as quickly as possible, while new, more transmissible virus variants threaten the population. President Joe Biden undertook this week to administer 100 million shots of the vaccine in his first 100 days in office – at a rate of 1 million shots per day.
At this rate, Biden said he hopes everyone who wants a vaccine should be vaccinated by spring.
Health leaders are eager to contribute to the goal – though they are not sure how it can be achieved at the current rate in Pennsylvania. Whiting noted that health leaders in Pennsylvania are unfamiliar with the details of the federal inventory and the measures to increase vaccine production efficiency.
“I don’t think (Biden) would say that if he did not have the information that it was feasible, which would be very encouraging for all of us,” Whiting said.
Whiting said from the beginning that the deployment of the vaccine in the US did not get a national response, which could have contributed to the wrong communication as well as delays in production. He said the addition of more vaccines, such as those of Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, which are expected to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, would be necessary to increase the pace.
“There are a lot of things going on to make it smoother and better,” he said. “In my opinion, transparency and consistency of the message are the two things that are currently in our control.”
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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