Pennsylvania Department of Health officials confirmed that Westmoreland County has been hampered in the number of covid-19 vaccine doses allocated since December, while local and regional leaders continue to highlight the growing problems with the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
County commissioner Doug Chew said analysis of state data revealed that 56 of the state’s 66 counties (not including Philadelphia, which receives doses directly from the federal government) received a higher percentage of vaccine per capita. Westmoreland was the lowest among counties of similar size, he said.
The state sent Westmoreland vendors enough vaccine to provide the first of the two doses needed for just 7% of the county’s population and to fully inoculate 3% of the county’s 348,000 residents, Chew said. Other less populated counties have received enough doses to vaccinate a larger percentage of their residents.
In fact, Westmoreland ranked worse among all third-class counties in terms of vaccine doses received, Chew said.
“Everyone in Westmoreland County is struggling to get a vaccine and we want to see our position evolve to be more in line with our population,” said Chew.
Health department spokesman Barry Ciccocioppo agreed that Westmoreland vaccine providers received a total of 31,891 doses, an amount that is “slightly less doses per capita than counties of similar size”.
As of February 19, Chew said his analysis revealed that 10 counties with smaller populations – Cumberland, Dauphin, Erie, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mercer and Montour – all received more doses than Westmoreland.
State officials did not answer questions about how the Department of Health determines how many doses are sent to each county or the exact number of vaccines that Westmoreland has reduced.
“Depending on the state’s total allocation, the department will seek to increase doses of Westmoreland in the future and, as supply increases again, we will work to ensure that they are getting enough supplies compared to other counties,” said Ciccocioppo.
Excela Health, the largest health care provider in Westmoreland, received about half of the vaccine doses allocated to the county, about 16,000 doses, according to medical director, Dr. Carol Fox.
The county’s vaccine distribution does not appear to match the population or percentage of people aged 65 and over who are now eligible to be immunized, she said.
“We want to make sure we get as many vaccines as possible” into the arms of people who are most at risk of contracting the virus, Fox said.
About 23% of county residents, or more than 81,000 people, are 65 or older, according to US Census data. Seven counties (Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster and Philadelphia) have more residents in this age group.
Regional approach?
How vaccine doses are distributed remains a mystery to leaders across the region, who say they asked the state to explain the criteria used, but received no response from the Department of Health.
Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughn said the frustration is growing with the distribution of vaccines.
“We are disappointed with the criteria that have been changed and changed again,” said Vaughn, noting that Allegheny is the only county in the region to have received a direct allocation of doses of vaccine from the state.
Allegheny is also the only county in southwestern Pennsylvania with its own health department. As of this week, records show that he has received more than 50,000 doses of the vaccine that have been distributed to seniors at local clinics in the past two months.
Commissioners from seven other counties – Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland – met remotely this week to discuss the possibility of forming a regional health department.
Vaughn said the first estimates suggest that a health department serving multiple counties would cost about $ 8 million. She warned that negotiations are in the early stages to determine what regulatory and legislative approvals would be needed before such an agency could be formed.
“We need to look at options, whether for a county or regionally,” she said.
Fayette commissioner Dave Lohr said that cost will be a factor, as well as the impact that a regional health department would have on businesses and local residents.
“We are all trying to find out what is best for our people,” said Lohr.
Westmoreland commissioners rejected requests for the county to create its own health department. Commissioner Gina Cerilli last week presented the idea of a regional department that includes several counties.
“We are very interested in forming a regional health department instead of an individual for Westmoreland. Obviously, the county will not suffer such a big financial blow, but the department will target the needs of western Pennsylvania, ”said Cerilli.
Chew was less committed, saying that many supervisory duties and responsibilities that the state currently requires from a health department, as well as the logistics of an agency having to serve a large geographic region, could weaken interest.
“I am not convinced that this is feasible regionally,” said Chew. “I just think that a large number of requirements make it formidable, even impossible, for a large number of counties to do this.”
Rich Cholodofsky is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Rich at 724-830-6293, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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