PA Vaccination Rate Up Drastically, New Data Shows

PENNSYLVANIA — After a comparatively sluggish start to its vaccine rollout, Pennsylvania is slowly but steadily rising the ranks.

The state now ranks 12th in the nation for the percent of the population which has received one dose, which is 31 percent, they said Tuesday, citing recent CDC statistics. They've also improved to 22nd overall for percentage of the overall doses they have used; that number is now 82 percent, per a New York Times analysis.

As recently as Jan. 27, the state was 41st overall in first dose administration.

"We continue to make great strides in administering vaccinations in Pennsylvania," Gov. Wolf said. "As the vaccine supply grows, we will continue to expand our distribution of vaccine throughout the commonwealth."

The state has implemented numerous changes to its process since those early days, when the early rollout inefficiencies were drawing widespread criticism. Among those efforts was a move to limit the total number of vaccine providers from around 1,700 to closer to 200 or 300. This helped concentrate the limited supply of vaccine in the hands of the most efficient providers.

Additionally, the arrival of the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine allowed the state to vaccinate nearly all of its school employees in a matter of weeks; this process is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

There are still many hurdles for the state to clear, however. Despite the fact that officials plan on having all of the 1A priority group scheduled for a vaccine by the end of March, it could still be months and months before these vaccinations are actually completed. And the state seems to be proceeding ahead with starting some 1B vaccinations at the end of March, despite the fact that 1A is not completed.

The state has increased shipments of doses in recent weeks, and they sound confident that more increases are coming. These increases have surely contributed to the state's rise in the ranks, although counties in the most populous region of the state, the southeast, remain adamant that they've been shortchanged. They're also continuing to spar over the logic of creating a regional mass vaccine site, when infrastructure is already in place to administer these doses at the county level.

Officials, however, are touting great success with these Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency-run sites. Gov. Wolf visited a new drive-thru clinic on Tuesday that opened in Dauphin County, at Harrisburg Area Community College.

Officials in Dauphin County praised the site.

"This drive through clinic in partnership with Dauphin County and Harrisburg Area Community College enables us to safely increase the number of people we can vaccinate, while being more accessible for those with mobility issues, and supporting physical distancing,” Philip Guarneschelli, the president of UPMC Pinnacle, which is a partner on the site, said Tuesday.

In the southeast, state legislators and county leaders say creating a single regional site will increase drive times, cause inequities for vulnerable residents, and force residents to add their name to yet another new wait list.

Despite the increase in vaccinations and steady march toward herd immunity, which glimmers somewhere on the horizon, COVID-19 cases in the state and in many parts of the nation, as part of what is being termed a "fourth wave" of the virus following months of decreases.

All told, the state has administered 4,956,257 doses as of March 29, including 2,23,540 first doses and 1,632,714 second doses.

For full information about getting a coronavirus vaccine in Pennsylvania, visit Patch's information hub.