Leading medical leaders in western Pennsylvania warned on Wednesday that there was not an adequate supply of vaccines to meet demand driven by increased eligibility in the state, according to a letter with strong words from the group.
The leaders published the letter in response to the state’s impulse to put more vaccines in the arms, including people 65 and older and those with certain health conditions.
“We agree that the identified groups are essential to limit the spread and damage of covid-19,” said the letter, signed by 11 doctors representing the UPMC, Allegheny Health Network, Excela and others. “However, we simply do not have adequate supplies of vaccines or a clear notification of when and how much is coming in order to be able to serve this much larger new group that can benefit.”
Pennsylvania Department of Health officials announced on Tuesday that anyone aged 65 and over and those aged 16 to 64 with some pre-existing illnesses are eligible for the vaccine now, in so-called Phase 1A. Approximately 3.5 million Pennsylvania residents fall into this category. The change aimed to align the state’s vaccination plan with the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The state’s announcement caused dozens of people who fall into the expanded category 1A to rush to vaccination clinics, believing that the updated state plan meant they could show up and get an injection.
For example, Tom Chakurda, a spokesman for Excela Health in Westmoreland County, said that Excela saw a lot of people asking when they could come to get vaccinated.
“It was significant enough that we had to change the verbiage on our website and on Facebook,” he said, noting this as one of the reasons why the medical director, Dr. Carol Fox, was on board with the letter.
“Although the state has just announced that individuals aged 65 and over or those with a condition that puts them at risk for serious illness can now be immunized, our current vaccine supply does not allow us to inoculate this group at the moment,” he said. leaders wrote online.
Vaccine suppliers – most at the moment, healthcare systems and some pharmacies – simply do not have the vaccine stock to meet demand.
“Unless (expanded eligibility) is accompanied by dramatic changes in the amount of vaccine, not just physically here, but physically arriving, we will not be able to meet that need,” said Dr. Donald Yealy, senior medical director at UPMC and chairman of his emergency medicine department.
“My advice would be, instead of thinking about hours or days based on yesterday’s announcement, to think about the next few weeks or so on how to schedule,” he said.
Yealy signed the letter to UPMC and is one of 11 health system leaders in the region who are part of the Consortium of Medical Officers in Southwest Pennsylvania. The group was formed in the early stages of the pandemic to try 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 extending who fits into any category as they did, people felt that, ‘OK, now it’s my turn, I also want to align quickly’, but in fact, we’re still working … health care professionals” , said Dr. Don Whiting, medical director of the Allegheny Health Network.
He said that there is a misconception that providers are “sitting on a lot of vaccine” and holding it for some reason.
Figures from the state Department of Health, he said, can give that false impression for a number of reasons, from a delay in notification and data delivery to the fact that it does not take into account scheduled vaccinations.
State data show about 37,100 people partially vaccinated in Allegheny County and 8,700 fully vaccinated. Westmoreland County data shows 9,101 people partially vaccinated and 152 fully vaccinated.
“Every drop we have is scheduled to be given in the next week and a half to two weeks,” said Whiting. “We have nothing more to schedule.”
Yealy said the memo was not an indictment to state health officials who made the call to expand the first-stage group to comply with federal guidance.
“The goal is not to criticize the community, but to say, ‘Here are the real steps we can serve,'” he said.
Instead, the letter was made to reinforce to the public that vaccination will not be instantaneous.
“It is so that the public understands that being in this group does not mean that everyone can be vaccinated immediately,” said Yealy. “There still needs to be prioritization and time. We want to vaccinate and we are not going to let the vaccine go to waste – we are going to put it efficiently in the arms, but it has to get here first ”.
Megan Guza is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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