Pa. health secretary says 'it's a misconception' that covid vaccines are sitting dormant

Pennsylvania’s top health official said the state could “soon” move to Phase 1B of the covid-19 vaccination plan but revealed little about when that will be and what it will look like.

The state so far has administered 285,671 doses of the vaccine, said Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, but only 21,291 people have received the second shot of the two-dose vaccine. Levine said last week there are about 1 million health care workers covered in the state’s first phase of vaccination, called 1A.

The state so far has received more than 800,000 doses of the vaccine from Operation Warp Speed. Levine said another 138,000 are set to arrive over the course of the week.

She said a lag in reporting by providers administering the vaccine — as well as similar lags in reporting by CVS and Walgreens, which are responsible for getting the vaccine into the long-term care facilities — means the number of doses administered is likely higher than the numbers on hand.

Levine said she thinks “it’s a misconception that thousands of doses are sitting there,” noting that the pace of vaccination has increased across the country and state since the start of the year and she expects it to continue.

Phase 1B will open up vaccination of Pennsylvanians aged 75 and older, among other groups.

“We are working on expanding many different ways so that when we activate 1B, people will be able to get those vaccines,” Levine said Monday, though she did not specify the ways in which vaccine distribution is being expanded.

In some states, like neighboring New Jersey, officials have opened vaccination “mega sites.” The latest, in Gloucester County, could serve more than 2,400 people per day if it were fully supplied, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In Allegheny County, the Health Department opened a vaccine point of dispensing — called a POD — at the DoubleTree hotel at the Monroeville Convention Center last week. Health officials at the state and local levels have said other major spots — colleges, universities, businesses — could set up their own point of dispensing, and pharmacies could start offering the vaccine as more becomes available.

“Right now we’re focusing on the people in 1A,” Levine said. “We do anticipate moving statewide into vaccinations for 1B soon and then we’ll be announcing information when that program starts.”

State health officials reported 7,506 new covid cases Sunday and another 5,338 cases on Monday. The state reported another 186 covid deaths during that time, bringing the total killed by the virus to 17,853.