Vaccine Tracking Shows Twice As Many Women Were First In Line

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Women who care for COVID-19 patients and support that care in other professions stand out in the state's count of who's been vaccinated so far.

In Chester County 2,552 have received the first-round vaccination against COVID-19 since distribution began two weeks ago in some places. In neighboring Delaware County, 3,516 have been vaccinated and in Montgomery County, 5,359 have been.

Statewide, twice as many women as men have received the COVID-19 vaccine so far. The state's new vaccine tracker shows 37,131 women have received the vaccine, while 18,131 men have, and 2,328 persons also received vaccines whose gender is unknown.

Distribution by age is fairly even for adults from age 25 to 65, though the 30-34 age group led with 7,642 vaccinated in that age range. By ethnicity, the first round of recipients was reported as being mostly white, with a significant number reported under unknown ethnicity.

Pennsylvania's Department of Health has added the vaccine information page to its coronavirus pages and will make regular updates of data on distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine as it is distributed in the weeks and months ahead.

As the vaccine went out beginning Dec. 14, scams arose. Pennsylvania State Police today warned of several scams they've identified. State police said disregard emails you may receive offering early access to the vaccine or to get on a waiting list, or to have doses mailed to your home.

State police also advised residents to beware of texts, robocalls, or other messages that in any way solicit personal identification information as they promise access to the vaccine.

State police also warned of social media posts "with disinformation or misinformation about the vaccine's origin or claims of political motivation. These posts may really be selling worthless or harmful products." Police advised making sure your devices have the latest updates and an antivirus program.

Anyone with information about a scam can report it at: tips@pa.gov.

The state DOH COVID-19 dashboard today reported 15,672 deaths across Pennsylvania, with 567,281 cases confirmed and another 64,052 probable cases reported. A Dec. 24 report from the DOH showed the state's deaths were almost equally divided between men and women, and that 11,775 of the 14,718 deaths counted by that date were white Pennsylvanians. African Americans accounted for 2,139 deaths.

The Chester County Department of Health reported there have been 503 deaths in the county and 19,536 cases of COVID-19 here as of Dec. 29.

Jeanne Casner, Director of the Chester County Department of Health, reminded county residents, "The COVID-19 vaccine is not a cure for the virus. It is another tool in the fight against COVID-19." She emphasized that residents cannot relax other safety precautions because there is now a vaccine.

The latest Chester County COVID-19 vaccination information is on the county's COVID-19 webpages at www.chesco.org/coronavirus. This page also provides a link to the CDC's evidence table, on which the vaccination allocation is based.