Pennsylvania ranks second in the country in the number of COVID-19 vaccines administered by 100,000 people last week.
Acting health secretary Alison Beam pointed this out as a clear sign that Pennsylvania is making significant progress after a difficult start to its vaccination campaign.
“This is proof that the rate of vaccination is accelerating here,” said Beam. “But let me be clear: we have a very long and challenging road ahead of us. I can assure you that the team here at the Department of Health will not stop adapting and innovating our strategy until every citizen of Pennsylvania who wants to get the vaccine ”.
About 3.18 million people received at least one or both of the COVID-19 vaccines, with 1.54 million fully protected, according to data from the state and Philadelphia health departments.
Last week, the state received a significant boost after launching its educator vaccination campaign with new single-dose injections from Johnson & Johnson. A historic record of almost 104,000 shots went to arms on Friday, but Pennsylvania still ranks 29th per capita nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The state reported 3,126 new coronavirus infections and 17 deaths on Thursday, bringing Pennsylvania to at least 976,847 total infections and 24,706. This marks the fourth day of the last week in which more than 3,000 new cases occurred.
Here are your coronavirus updates for Thursday, March 18, 2021.
About 24% of Pennsylvania residents have received at least one dose of vaccine and 12% are fully vaccinated.
Demand for COVID-19 vaccines in Pennsylvania continues to exceed available doses, but Beam said at a news conference on Thursday that he still believes that a May 1 goal of opening eligibility for all is possible.
There are now 1.54 million people who have been fully vaccinated and 1.64 million with a single vaccine, according to data from the state and health department of Philadelphia.
Across the state, 97% of the first doses allocated were administered, while 66% of the second doses were administered, said Beam. These data exclude Philly, who gets his own vaccine allocation.
Pennsylvania remains in Phase 1A of its vaccination plan, which prioritizes people over 65, frontline healthcare professionals and younger people with certain high-risk medical conditions. Pennsylvania estimates that about 4.5 million people are at this stage.
Pennsylvania and Illinois are doing a better job of providing the first doses to older adults, compared to the nation’s 10 states with a population over 65, the health department notes. A quarter of Americans aged 65 and over live in California, Florida and Texas. Pennsylvania is one of seven other states responsible for another quarter of older adults.
Once the state has completed its vaccination campaign for educators with Johnson & Johnson injections, single-dose vaccines will go to certain Phase 1B workers, such as police, fire, grocery and farm workers, and to state-run mass vaccine clinics . The state expects its J&J allocation to increase significantly by the end of March.
Beam emphasized on Thursday that she is highlighting the infrastructure that Pennsylvania now has ready “to administer every drop of the vaccine as quickly as we can from the federal government in the next month or so.” There are four pillars: suppliers that receive federal funds, such as FEMA’s retail pharmacies and mass clinics; the state’s target clinics with Johnson & Johnson; the state’s small network of providers and the state’s mass vaccination sites, including mobile vaccination clinics.
This will ensure that everyone in Phase 1A can set up a meeting by the end of March, as Governor Tom Wolf ordered last week, and then move quickly to Phases 1B and 1C, said Beam.
“We are working to open eligibility for everyone on May 1,” she said. “Eligibility does not mean that vaccines will be available immediately. It will take some time to put vaccines in the arms of everyone who wants a vaccine. Pennsylvania does not have a shortage of providers ready to administer the vaccine, but there is a shortage of vaccines. ”
The state has mitigated a vaccine deficit caused by some providers by giving second doses as first doses, but overall demand remains high, Beam confirmed Thursday.
The state has now reduced its network of vaccine suppliers to about 300 suppliers, who will receive allocations in the coming weeks, and has launched a new supplier map that is expected to be more friendly.
Anyone looking for a vaccine can enter their address and consult with their nearest suppliers, including those who received the vaccine through the federal partnership of retail pharmacies. (Federal allocations are reflected in the state’s vaccine data.) The map is more compatible with mobile devices and more accessible for the visually impaired, said the Department of Health’s Deputy Executive Secretary, Keara Klinepeter.
The providers on the map were selected based on geography, ability to deliver a large volume of photos quickly, equitably and demographically within a week of delivery, Beam said. These providers received their first doses this week and will continue to receive them.
Pennsylvania is now posting which providers received the first and second doses of vaccine each week on its open data platform, as well as suppliers of retail pharmacies receiving doses and long-term care facilities that maintain vaccine clinics through the federal pharmaceutical partnership.
Coronavirus in Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley
New coronavirus infections in the state have reached a plateau in recent weeks, after a steady decline. Although there has been a slight increase in the past week, with four of the past seven days reporting 3,000 cases or more.
In the past week, Pennsylvania had an average of 2,638 new cases per day, almost identical to the rate two weeks ago, and 31 deaths, a significant decline from 50 deaths per day two weeks ago. Most deaths in the state occurred among the elderly.
There are 1,500 people hospitalized with COVID-19 today, with 284 needing intensive care. This is comparable to the spring peak on May 3. Most hospitalized people are 65 years or older.
The Lehigh Valley reported 236 new cases on Thursday and one death. This is divided into 112 new cases and no new deaths in Lehigh County, bringing the total number of deaths to 32,236 infections and 796 lives lost. Northampton County reports 124 new infections and a new death for a total of 28,482 cases and 666 deaths.
Lehigh Valley counties remain in the top 10 for the highest number of vaccinations per 100,000 people. Philadelphia leads the group with 38,908 doses per capita.
Northampton County has administered a total of 78,009 injections and has a vaccination rate of 25,553 per 100,000 residents. Lehigh County administered 91,969 shots at a rate of 24,902 shots per capita.
The Bethlehem Health Bureau will publish consultations for its clinics on Monday and Wednesday of next week at 8 am on Friday. Visit the website here and click on the dates and registration of the COVID-19 vaccine clinic to access the link to schedule an appointment.
A small number of telephone appointments will be available by calling 610-865-7092. They are reserved for residents of Bethlehem and Northampton County who are 65 or older and do not have access to the Internet and the computer.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that vaccines allocated through the federal pharmaceutical retail partnership are tracked on the state panel.
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Sara K. Satullo can be contacted at [email protected].