The Allegheny County Health Department will expand eligibility for vaccine distribution – starting on Friday – to include people over 50 who have certain health conditions.
To date, the department has vaccinated only people aged 65 and over, citing restrictions on vaccine supply. Dr. Debra Bogen, the county’s health director, said the department would expand eligibility once more people in the older population – considered to be at greatest risk for serious covid-19 health outcomes – were vaccinated.
Bogen said on Wednesday that at least 50% of Allegheny County residents aged 65 and over will have received at least one dose by the end of the week.
“While we still have work to do to serve this population, these data tell us that it is time to expand our vaccination eligibility requirements by the health department,” said Bogen.
The department will now serve people aged 50 to 64 with high-risk health conditions, including cancer, COPD, heart disease and many others included in the state’s Phase 1A.
The change in eligibility requirements coincides with a general increase in vaccine distribution. Allegheny County executive Rich Fitzgerald said about 10,000 doses are administered across the county every day, compared with about 2,800 a day in the last two weeks of December. According to the state Department of Health, more than 170,000 residents of Allegheny County have been fully vaccinated and another 150,000 have been partially vaccinated.
The county’s vaccine supply “has stabilized,” said Bogen. By the end of Wednesday, she said, the health department alone will have administered about 65,000 doses to about 41,000 people.
The county also introduced additional vaccine distribution sites this week in the city’s Oakland, Hill District and Ross.
But officials said they were still concerned about levels of infection in the county, “keeping it stubbornly at a certain level”. Although hospitalizations and deaths due to covid-19 continue to decline, there has been a slight increase in cases in recent weeks.
Bogen said he fears the county may be entering a spring outbreak. She cited concerns including the presence of covid variants in the county, which have been shown to be more transmissible than the original viral strain. Bogen said there were 17 cases of variant B.1.1.7 identified in Allegheny County, but this is probably “just the tip of the iceberg,” she said.
She fears there will be more opportunities for the virus to spread with relaxed public health restrictions and said more people reported participating in group events, travel and other activities during case investigations.
“Although I don’t expect the potential increase to be like what we experienced last winter, I am concerned,” she said. “Since about two-thirds of adult residents have not yet been vaccinated, including about 50% of people aged 65 and over, many people in our community remain at risk. Therefore, I ask that everyone remain cautious for another month or two, while we vaccinate more people. “
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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