PA Officials Give COVID Vaccine Update, Addressing Supply Issues

PENNSYLVANIA — Pennsylvania officials on Tuesday gave a public briefing on the status of the coronavirus vaccine rollout in the state, saying they believed that a corresponding increase in supply was coming when the federal government advised them to expand the 1A group.

Gov. Wolf pointed to the Trump administration's "poorly planned" vaccine distribution plan, saying that the federal government asked states to make more people eligible for doses when there simply was not nearly enough available.

"The Trump Administration asked states to give more doses to more people, but the national stockpile was depleted," Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday during a news briefing.

Currently, the state has about 1.5 million doses of the vaccine, and because two shots are required to complete administration, that means that they only have enough right now for about 750,000 more people.

Meanwhile, there are over 4 million Pennsylvanians that are now in the 1A category in Pennsylvania, meaning that some 8 million more doses are needed just to get through that initial category. At the current rate the state is receiving vaccines, that means it could take anywhere from "many months" to a year to get through that first priority group.

The expanded category was announced last Monday. Specifically, it expanded the first priority group from just healthcare workers to include all residents over 65, as well as other residents with serious underlying health issues that placed them at heightened risk. While it obviously extends the delay for the vaccine for the general public, it also means that individuals in the 1B category, like teachers, police officers, and other frontline workers, are looking at an indefinite delay.

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.

And perhaps even more relevantly to the situation state now finds itself in: putting 4 million Pennsylvanians into the 1A category has led to chaos, as countless residents rush to sign up for doses that don't exist.

The state did not consider rejecting the Trump administration's guidance to expand the 1A category.

"We assumed we were going to have an expanded supply," Gov. Wolf said. "And that didn't materialize."

When asked during Tuesday's briefing, officials did not get into many specifics on how dealing with President Joe Biden's new administration had been any different than the previous administration. But officials noted they were hopeful the new guard would be "fair and effective" in their national vaccine strategy.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the state has partially vaccinated 474,449 individuals, and fully vaccinated another 132,184.

You can watch the full briefing here: