According to a strongly worded letter from the group, top medical leaders in Western Pennsylvania warned Wednesday that there is no adequate vaccine supply to meet the demand.
Leaders issued the letter in response to the state’s effort to get more vaccinations into the weapon, including people 65 and older and people with certain health conditions.
“We agree that the identified groups are key to limiting the spread and damage of covid-19,” reads the letter, signed by 11 medical officials from UPMC, Allegheny Health Network, Excela and others. “However, we simply do not have sufficient vaccine supply or do not know clearly when and how much it will be to meet this new, larger group that could benefit from it.”
Pennsylvania Department of Health officials announced Tuesday that anyone aged 65 or older and those between the ages of 16 and 64 with some existing conditions are eligible for the vaccine, in the so-called Phase 1A. About 3.5 million Pennsylvania people fall into that category. The move was intended to bring the state’s vaccination plan into line with the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
The state announcement sent numerous people falling into the extended 1A category, who rushed them to vaccination clinics, believing the updated state plan meant they could show up and get a chance.
Tom Chakurda, a spokeswoman for Excela Health in Westmoreland County, for example, said Excela sees a significant rush of people inquiring about when they can get their vaccination.
“It was significant enough that we had to change the proverb on our website and Facebook,” he said, noting that this was one of the reasons why dr. Carol Fox, chief medical officer, was on board the letter.
“Although the state has just announced that individuals 65 years of age and older, or those with a condition that puts them at risk for serious illness, can now be immunized, we are currently unable to vaccinate this group,” leaders wrote online.
Vaccination providers – mostly at this stage healthcare systems and some pharmacies – simply do not have the vaccine supply to meet the demand for them.
“Unless (the extended eligibility) is accompanied by dramatic changes in the amount of vaccine, not only physically but also physically, we will not be able to meet the need,” said Dr. Donald Yealy, senior medical director at UPMC and chairman of his department of emergency medicine.
“My advice would be, instead of thinking for hours to days based on yesterday’s announcement, to think about planning in the next few weeks or more,” he said.
Yealy signed the letter to UPMC and he is one of the 11 health system leaders in the region who are part of the consortium of medical officers in Southwest Pennsylvania. The group formed in the early stages of the pandemic to address issues in a coordinated and transparent manner.
The health systems represented in the consortium are: Allegheny Health Network, UPMC, Excela Health System, Butler Health System, Heritage Valley Health System, St. Clair Hospital, Washington Health System, the Pittsburgh VA Health System, Conemaugh Health System, Penn Highlands Healthcare. and Indiana Regional Medical Center.
“By expanding who fits into which category they like, it made people feel: ‘OK, now it’s my turn, I also want to be drafted quickly’, but in fact we are still working through … health care staff, ”said dr. Don Whiting, chief medical officer of Allegheny Health Network, said.
He said there is a misconception that suppliers for some reason “sit on a bunch of vaccine” and withhold it.
Numbers from the state Department of Health, he said, can give the false impression for several reasons, from a delay in reporting and uploading the data to the fact that it is not responsible for scheduled vaccinations.
State data show that approximately 37,100 people were partially vaccinated in Allegheny County and 8,700 were fully vaccinated. Data for Westmoreland County show that 9,101 people were partially vaccinated and 152 were fully vaccinated.
“Every drop we give is given during the next week and a half to two weeks,” Whiting said. “We have no more to plan for.”
Yealy said the memorandum is not an accusation by state health officials that called for enlarging the first phase group to fall in line with federal leadership.
“It is not meant to be critical of the Commonwealth, but to say, ‘Here are the right steps we can take,'” he said.
The letter was rather intended to reassure the public that vaccination would not take place immediately.
“It’s so that the public understands that the fact that they’re in the group does not mean that everyone can be vaccinated immediately,” Yealy said. “There still needs to be prioritization and there needs to be time. We want to vaccinate, and we will not let the vaccine go to waste – we will get it in our arms effectively, but it must first arrive here. ”
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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