Pennsylvania on Friday launched an updated coronavirus vaccine plan that makes more people eligible for photos in the early stages of launch.
Healthcare workers and nursing home residents remain in front of the line, followed by people aged 75 and over and “essential workers” such as police officers, grocery store clerks and teachers.
With COVID-19 continuing to erupt across Pennsylvania, health officials have warned that the state is still a few months away from having enough doses of the two approved vaccines to inoculate the general public.
“I know it’s hard to ask, but we have to be patient,” Dr. Rachel Levine, the secretary of state for health, said Friday. “It will take several months for this vaccine to be available to everyone.”
To date, the federal government has allocated more than 827,000 doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to Pennsylvania. More than 235,000 photos were given, although Levine said the actual number is sure to be higher, as reports from hospitals and pharmacies remain for one to three days.
Doctors, nurses and other health workers, as well as residents and staff in nursing homes and long-term care facilities – a group of about 1 million – are rolling up their sleeves. State officials have not provided a timetable for the completion of that initial phase of the vaccination campaign, which began last month.
Furthermore, under the state’s revised vaccine plan, there are people aged 75 and older and essential workers, a huge and diverse group, which includes clerics; the first respondents; prison guards; school staff; and workers in the food, manufacturing, postal, public transport and grocery stores.
After that, eligibility will be extended to people aged between 65 and 74, those with serious health conditions and another huge group of industry workers, from banking to energy.
Representative Aaron Kaufer R-Luzerne said high-risk pensioners should be moved to the state’s priority list.
“I am absolutely appalled that the governor and Dr. Levine have shown so little care and a low priority over residents who have high-risk medical conditions when developing their COVID-19 vaccination plan,” Kaufer said in a statement. Press release.
Levine said the state’s vaccination plan follows the recommendations of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At a media briefing on Friday, she predicted that it could be late spring or summer before the state is ready to offer the vaccine to anyone who wants one.
“It will take some time, but a future without COVID-19 is coming,” said her boss, Governor Tom Wolf.
The state reported more than 10,000 new, confirmed cases of the virus on Friday – most in a few weeks – likely indicating the start of a post-holiday wave, according to Levine. The state registered an average of about 7,500 new cases a day.
Geisinger, one of the state’s largest health systems, said it continues to see high rates of infections and hospitalizations. The numbers are “in line with what you would expect during the full spread of the community,” Dr. Jaewon Ryu, CEO of Geisinger, said in a separate briefing on Friday.
Geisinger said it has given more than 1,000 vaccines a day, inoculating about half of its workers, and expects to give initial doses to about 19,000 people by the end of next week.