The delay in delivering the coronavirus vaccine in Pennsylvania was criticized on Wednesday, when health leaders cited poor communication and disorganization as reasons for slow implementation and lawmakers questioned the state’s efficiency in inoculating residents.
The three-hour hearing, conducted by the Chamber’s Health Committee, addressed concerns about vaccine accessibility, racial disparities, the pace and efficiency of the process and other issues that became prominent during the launch. Health leaders, for their part, pointed to persistent flaws in the way the government communicates with vaccine providers, causing difficulties in organizing clinics and administering doses.
Pennsylvania ranks 39th out of 50 states in terms of the percentage of people who received at least one dose of the vaccine.
The hearing included testimonials from hospital and community health leaders, representatives from Walgreens and CVS and acting health secretary Alison Beam.
Susan Friedberg Kalson, CEO of Squirrel Hill Health Center, said her small team is addressing the needs of high-risk residents when it comes to testing and vaccinations, as well as other routine health needs. When it comes to vaccine distribution, said Friedberg Kalson, she noted a lack of communication at all levels of government.
“Everything that happens at the federal and state level ends at our door,” she said.
Squirrel Hill Health Center received its first dose distribution without notice from the state, she said. Since then, it has struggled with reduced supply and a disorganized registration system. The facility is also covering the cost of new hires to oversee vaccine clinics in the absence of federal funding, she said.
Friedberg Kalson said he was concerned about the prevalence of people who put their names on multiple waiting lists at hospitals and pharmacies in several counties, a practice that many have adopted due to the lack of a centralized registration system in the state. She said that this creates confusion with supply and demand, as well as a “general atmosphere of competition in which the technologically fittest and most apt – who frankly are not the people we should serve first – receive the award.”
“Given the uncertainty about the supply, we need to control how many people we register,” she said. “But without any centralized system or coordination … many people register at multiple locations, compounding the problem of no-show and potential waste.”
Friedberg Kalson noted that there may be some disagreement about the best way to coordinate the registry, but “what we have now is not working”.
Coordination of the quantity of vaccine to be ordered is further complicated by the lack of communication with government authorities. Richard Allen, CEO of Warren General Hospital in Warren County, said there is confusion about how allocations are determined, how much the hospital can expect to receive and when it will arrive.
“A few weeks ago, we ordered 2,000 vaccines (doses) and received 400,” said Allen.
Warren General Hospital is the county’s leading vaccine distributor, Allen said. As of Tuesday, only one county drugstore had received any doses (about 200) and administered most of them quickly, he said.
The two health leaders who testified said they struggled to keep up with changes in guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department of Health. When the state announced an expansion of Phase 1A two weeks ago, they said, they experienced an overload of phone calls and e-mails while the newly eligible ones rushed to receive doses that providers did not have.
“When we don’t know what’s going on, it’s very difficult for us to communicate with our community,” said Friedberg Kalson.
Counties that have their own health departments may be able to organize vaccine clinics en masse, Allen said, but most counties in Pennsylvania are relying on private hospitals and other providers that “just aren’t prepared” for this.
When questioned by committee members, Beam said the federal government’s limited communication was to blame for the lack of state information sent to vaccinators across Pennsylvania.
“A week’s visibility into what is happening is not enough to plan,” she said. “And the limited visibility that we had was then, unfortunately, transferred to suppliers.”
“We were always reacting to what the federal government was advising us of,” added Beam, noting that there is hope for the future of having a three-week warning of how much vaccine is coming. “It will be a big change in everything we’ve experienced to date.”
Beam said states that use centralized registration systems face their own challenges. Many have struggled with their IT systems, she said, and a registration system will not solve the underlying problem of vaccine delivery, the issue of “predictability”.
Beam and other health department officials seemed confused that leaders did not know how much vaccine was coming or when, saying there had been “a lot of hand-to-hand communication” and investment in keeping providers informed.
Providers across western Pennsylvania, including the region’s major health care providers, have echoed these concerns since the vaccine’s distribution began eight weeks ago. Beam said the health department is making a plan for a more routine communication cycle for providers, as well as representatives and their constituents.
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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