Getting A COVID-19 Vaccine In PA: This Week's Updates

PENNSYLVANIA — It was a busy week in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign across Pennsylvania, as officials looked to address inefficiencies in administering doses while introducing a number of new initiatives.

Some 1,167,402 partial vaccinations and 356,108 full vaccinations have been administered as of Friday morning.

YourTurn PA

The "YourTurn" online tool aims to help residents find out where they stand within the state's vaccine priority groups.

Residents under 65 can input their information to see if they are eligible. If they are eligible, they'll be directed to a vaccination appointment registration link. If they aren't eligible, they'll be given more information on when they'll become eligible, based on the information they provided.

"When it is your turn, we will direct you on how to find a vaccine provider. If it is not your turn yet, you will be able to enter contact information to receive updates about vaccine distribution in Pennsylvania and for us to let you know when it is your turn to get vaccinated," Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said in a statement.

If residents do not have access to the internet to register for an appointment, they can call 877-PA-HEALTH. More.

Joint Task Force

A bipartisan joint task force, comprised of members of each legislative caucuses, has been formed to brainstorm policy solutions to the vaccine program and to communicate more efficiently with the General Assembly.

Task force members will represent their caucus's point-of-view and work to streamline conversations to focus and drive issues of importance, according to an announcement from the governor's office.

"There's nothing that's off the table," Gov. Tom Wolf said Thursday, when discussing potential changes to Pennsylvania's vaccine system.

Timeline

Officials have no updated estimate as to when the state may be ready to move into the 1B phase, though they reiterated hopes previously expressed by Gov. Tom Wolf that the vaccine could be available to the general public by spring or summer.

"It's a really great question," Mauldin said when pressed on a timeline Tuesday. "And something we're all thinking about. But our focus is on vaccinating the 1A category at this time."

Dr. Anthony Fauci, however, said this week on the Today show that April could be "open season" for the vaccine, with the potential of availability for all groups by then.

The state needs 8 million doses to vaccinate the roughly 4 million Pennsylvanians in 1A. Thus far, the state has received about 2.4 million, and shipments depend on the federal government.

PA still lags behind

Pennsylvania currently sits in 43rd place in distribution efficiency nationwide, according to a New York Times analysis, having administered 63 percent of the doses it has received.

While that's just a few percentage points off what could be determined the middle of the pack, it lags significantly behind other large states like Virginia (77 percent), Michigan (74 percent), and Texas (73 percent). And it looks like a failure in comparison to Utah and West Virginia, which lead the nation at 88 percent.

"Every state is different, and we all have different challenges," Wolf said.

Specifically, he pointed to Pennsylvania's larger number of residents over 65, which means that there are more eligible residents in 1A waiting for the vaccine here than elsewhere. Pennsylvania has the fourth-largest total senior population nationwide, and the 9th largest percentage of seniors, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation and US Census Data.

"Those are the challenges we face, but there are no excuses. We have to do better."

Senior programs

The bulk of the 4 million Pennsylvanians in the 1A vaccine priority group are residents over the age of 65.

Numerous Area Agencies of Aging (AAA) — groups, which provide resources to assist older adults with healthcare and other basic needs — are being mobilized to assist in the vaccine effort.

In Butler County, the local AAA is working directly with vaccine providers to help seniors obtain appointments.

Thus far, it's at least been effective in growing the number of registered individuals. Some 1,200 residents of the county over the age of 65 have been signed up.

"The vaccine appointment no-show rate for these older adults is zero percent," Torres said.

Over at the Southwestern AAA, which serves several counties in the southwestern corner of the state, the agency is assisting seniors who don't have a computer, and working with PennDOT to assure transportation to vaccine appointments.

They also have representatives present at vaccination sites to help monitor seniors for any side-effects after they receive shots.

In the same vein, PACE, the state's low-cost prescription program for seniors, has launched what the state is calling a "comprehensive assistance and outreach effort."

There are some 275,000 PACE enrollees in the state. There is now a dedicated scheduling unit in the Harrisburg Call Center to help those individuals arrange vaccinations.

Centralized appointment system

The state currently has no plans to implement a centralized appointment system, despite several other states using one.

Wolf said that the bipartisan task force "could" consider the idea when it held its first meetings this week.

Officials have declined to address concerns over the confusion some residents have experienced in attempting to register for a vaccine through multiple different providers. The state has told residents to register only with a single provider, while counties are telling residents to sign up wherever they can, keep their first appointment, and cancel the others once their first is confirmed.

Pennsylvanians can learn more about where they can get vaccinated and when they'll be eligible at the state Department of Health's vaccine website here.

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