NORRISTOWN, PA – It was a difficult week in the coronavirus vaccination campaign in Montgomery County, as the county received drastically fewer doses this week, forcing him to close his vaccination clinic. But there is also good news, as the state has announced radical changes that should help local providers to distribute vaccines more efficiently.
The count of cases across the county continues to steadily decline, a trend that has been occurring for most of 2021. However, four more cases of the UK virus variant were found in the county this week and officials are confident that numbers are actually many superior.
Only individuals in priority category 1A, which includes healthcare professionals and residents over the age of 65, as well as those between 16 and 64 with serious underlying diseases, can receive the vaccine.
Due to limited supplies, it may take up to 12 weeks for you to receive a response regarding the confirmation of an appointment. Do not panic; if you pre-registered, your name is in the system.
Where are you in the queue?
From 1,300 to 2,700 new registrants signed up for a vaccine every day in the county for the past few weeks. To find out where you are in the queue, you can compare the date you registered with these statistics on new daily subscribers.
The waiting list grows to 153K, with the clinic temporarily closed.
The waiting list to receive the vaccine in the municipality already includes 153,502 pre-registered individuals in category 1A. That’s an increase of about 13,000 over last week, which means that many more people are signing up than being vaccinated.
The county remains dependent on state supplies, which have declined in the past two weeks due to the growing number of suppliers across the state (more on that below). The county’s mass vaccination site in Norristown Area High School closed for the rest of the week because it ran out of first doses. It will reopen on Monday.
What is the county doing to improve the process?
To help resolve the confusion and alleviate lingering doubts and frustrations, the county has launched some new tools.
One is a new COVID-19 hotline, which residents can call and ask questions about the vaccine. It is being singled out as particularly useful for older people in the county, who may not have access to the Internet.
The number is 833-875-3967. It also has Spanish speaking agents and language line support for more than 100 other languages. It will be open from 8 am to 8 pm, Monday to Saturday.
A second tool that the county is launching is a weekly email that will be distributed to everyone who has already signed up. The email will provide an update on vaccination progress and what registrants can expect when it is their turn.
What is the state doing?
Friday, the state announced significant policy changes, drastically reduced the total number of suppliers that will receive the vaccine. Although that number reached 1,700 providers earlier this week, it will “progressively” be reduced to about 200 to 300 in the coming weeks, officials said.
“The network of providers will be limited to those who have demonstrated success,” said acting health secretary Alison Beam.
County health departments will be prioritized under the new scheme, which means that Montgomery County should expect a dose increase in the near future.
County officials continue to argue that larger providers, such as county health departments, can distribute the vaccine more efficiently than smaller suppliers. But the state believes that private health systems also have infrastructure that must be capitalized on. Therefore, although the number of private providers is significantly limited to the best performing health systems and pharmacies in the coming weeks, they will continue to play a role. “We really see this as an opportunity to allow them to line up even more,” added Beam.
Are people cheating?
Yes, and the county is working on ways to prevent this from happening.
As the links are not exclusive, there have been several cases in which an individual sends a link to a relative, friend or even publishes it on social networks. Often, these line jumpers are not even in priority group 1A.
The county says it is working to make these registration links “one-time use”, so if someone tries to share the link, it won’t work.
Counties across the state, including Montgomery, meet with PrepMod weekly to discuss these issues. So far, no solution has been found. The software was originally designed as a registration tool for doctors ‘offices – which worked perfectly when it was mostly doctors’ offices being vaccinated in the first few weeks – but had problems with expanding the inoculation program.
“The problem is growing,” said Arkoosh.
In addition to working on corrections, the county is considering entirely new systems to replace this as well.
Who is eligible to receive the vaccine now?
Montgomery County, like the rest of Pennsylvania, remains in Phase 1A of the launch of four phases of the coronavirus vaccine. This originally meant that the only people eligible for the vaccine were health professionals, residents and employees of nursing homes and other health institutions.
The state’s new online tool “YourTurn” aims to help residents discover where they are within the state’s priority vaccine groups.
Why are teachers and police still unable to get vaccinated?
Teachers, police officers and other essential workers are in category 1B. The state, when pressed on the subject, says it remains committed to vaccinating all 1A first.
Numerous Pennsylvania education associations, including school board conglomerates, rural and small schools, principals, administrators and the State Education Association, wrote a letter to Governor Wolf this week asking that school officials be placed on priority lists for the vaccine.
“Ensuring that the men and women who teach and care for children in Pennsylvania receive the vaccine as soon as possible is absolutely essential if we are to reopen state schools for face-to-face education and return to normal operations when the 2021-22 school year begins, “says the letter.
The letter goes on to note that 26 other states currently prioritize school officials in vaccination plans, but not Pennsylvania.
When will the vaccine be available to the general public?
Officials do not have up-to-date estimates of when the state may be ready to enter phase 1B, although they reiterate the hopes previously expressed by Governor Tom Wolf that the vaccine may be available to the general public in the spring or summer.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, however, said this week at Today’s show that April may be a “hunting season” for the vaccine, with potential for availability for all groups until then.
There are approximately 250,000 individuals in Category 1A in Montgomery County.
Be the first to know what’s going on in your city and region. Sign up to receive Patch emails and don’t miss a minute of local and state news: https://patch.com/subscribe