“I have better news today. Our number of cases has dropped over the past three weeks, but our case is still high and we need to be careful,” Farley said.
The city on Tuesday reported a 41% decrease in cases since the implementation of their “Safer At Home” restrictions, which translated into the lowest infection rates in the region in some time.
“We therefore see this as proof that the restrictions are working,” Farley added.
However, he warned that the combination of both Christmas and the New Year’s Eve indiscriminate gatherings could raise the issue again.
“These two nails may run together and may feed each other,” he said.
To date, more than 18,000 health workers in high-risk environments have received a COVID 19 vaccine in the city in the first phase of the rollout.
Farley said the city will receive less than 10,000 doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccine over the next two weeks.
“The number of doses is small, so people who want to be vaccinated, including health workers, will have to be patient to get the vaccine,” Farley said.
As the weeks go by, non-profit organizations like Philly Fighting COVID will work with the city to help get more Philadelphia, especially vaccinated health workers.
“The goal should be, the moment we get the vaccine in hand, it should be in someone’s arm,” said Dr. Jose Torradas, medical officer.
Torradas said one of the group’s goals is to help the city achieve herd immunity.
“So many business interests want to come back, so the hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake, without counting the thousands of lives we lose every day because we do not have herd immunity,” Torradas said.
Farley said the city’s health systems are working to eliminate the vaccines as quickly as possible.
“I do not believe that one of them is holding the vaccine, it certainly should not be. There are a lot of people who have to stand in line,” he said.
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