The distribution of vaccines to hospitals in western Pennsylvania is not enough to inoculate everyone who is eligible, health leaders said on Tuesday.
State officials last week expanded phase 1A of the distribution plan beyond health workers and long-term residents – to include people over 65 and people with a variety of health problems. The change came days after health officials learned that the federal vaccine stock had run out and, as a result, supply interruptions were likely to occur. Some systems paused vaccination appointments last week because all available doses have been counted.
And on Tuesday, Governor Tom Wolf and acting health secretary Alison Beam lamented a “frustrating” problem in providing the vaccine in Pennsylvania.
After repeated investigations by the Tribune-Review, a Department of Health spokesman said the expansion was made to align with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and “because it fits the Pennsylvania goal of launching the vaccination. covid-19 in a way that prioritizes people, while vaccine supply remains limited, who receives the vaccine to maximize the benefits and minimize the damage caused by the virus, promote justice, mitigate health inequities and promote transparency ”.
But health experts say the expansion has done little to bring the vaccine to those who need it most, noting that nearly 4 million people are now eligible. Dr. Don Whiting, medical director of the Allegheny Health Network, said that AHN receives an average of about 10,000 doses per week, and its arrival is irregular. The network has the capacity of the workforce to manage almost twice that amount each week, if only they had the supply.
“There are several million people, so the numbers just don’t match,” said Whiting. “State change in age groups was driven by federal change in age groups, which was driven by a more national view of how things were going in different states. … I think the message, in the average person, creates some confusion. “
Barry Ciccocioppo, a health department spokesman, said the state is asking the federal government for the maximum available vaccine quota. The community does not have its own vaccine stock, he said.
“We are asking citizens of Pennsylvania to be patient,” he said. “This is a global pandemic and vaccine manufacturers are working to deliver doses around the world.”
Ciccocioppo said that providers in the state are receiving a “steady flow” of around 140,000 doses per week. But health leaders in the region indicated that the vaccine’s arrival is much less predictable.
Dr. Carol Fox, medical director at Excela Health, said the system expects additional vaccine allocation “in the coming weeks”.
“We do not know, at this point, how often to expect more allocations,” she said in a statement. “We are hopeful that as the supply becomes more abundant, we will be the recipients of even more vaccines.”
Tami Minnier, director of quality at the UPMC, said the system has not yet received notification of when and how much new vaccine is coming to support the expansion of phase 1A.
“We are looking forward to vaccinating more people in the communities we serve and we have the infrastructure, staff and clinics to do that,” she said in a statement. “When we are notified that more vaccines are on the way to support the expanded Phase 1A group, we will engage the public and give clear instructions on how to request vaccination.”
The last update of the vaccine occurs during a slow implementation of the vaccine marked by confusion and inconsistencies in distribution. In the meantime, the United States is rushing to administer vaccines as quickly as possible, while new, more communicable virus variants threaten the population. President Joe Biden this week promised to administer 100 million injections of the vaccine in his first 100 days in office – a rate of 1 million injections per day.
At this rate, Biden said he expects everyone who wants a vaccine to be inoculated by spring.
Health leaders are eager to contribute to the goal – although they are not sure how it can be achieved at the current rate in Pennsylvania. Whiting noted that health leaders in Pennsylvania are unaware of the details of federal stockpile and measures to increase the efficiency of the production line in vaccine manufacturing.
“I don’t think (Biden) would say that unless he had the information that it was possible, which would be very encouraging for all of us,” said Whiting.
From the beginning, Whiting said, the launch of the vaccine in the United States did not have a unified national response, which could have contributed to communication failure and also to manufacturing delays. He said that adding more vaccine options – such as those from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, which must be approved for emergency use by the United States Food and Drug Administration – will be crucial to accelerating the pace.
“There are a lot of things going on to make it smoother and better,” he said. “Transparency and consistency of the message, I think, are the two things that are under our control now.”
Teghan Simonton is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Teghan at 724-226-4680, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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