Pennsylvania’s next COVID-19 vaccine crisis may involve a lack of people who want vaccine rather than lack of vaccine.
The solution will involve convincing people, especially in rural areas, that they want and need vaccine, according to Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam.
“How do we collectively partner on making sure folks understand that the facts and science are there, that the health and safety of our communities is reliant upon us getting vaccinated? And that the freedom that so many folks want, and the local control, will be facilitated best when we have the most folks vaccinated in the community,” Beam said.
Beam this week announced a rapid, broad expansion of vaccine eligibility in Pennsylvania that will make everyone over 16 eligible as of April 19.
The expansion comes much quicker than seemed possible a month or so ago, when the number of people wanting vaccine was far greater than the supply. But the supply has grown rapidly and, according to Beam, the vast majority of Pennsylvanians with Phase 1A eligibility have received at least a first dose. Bean further cited signs of a lack of demand for vaccine in some parts of the state.
The eligibility expansion also comes as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are surging again in Pennsylvania, with Beam saying Wednesday that variant strains, which can be more contagious and more lethal — and harder to immediately detect — are a factor. More than 2,100 COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals, an increase of nearly 700 since mid-March, according to the health department.
While the state is closely watching the counts, there are no immediate plans to reverse the relaxing of occupancy restrictions on restaurants and other businesses set to begin April 4, Beam said.
She suggested the accelerating pace of vaccination combined with continued use of preventions such as face masks and social distancing can enable Pennsylvania to weather the surge without a return to tighter restrictions.
Still, the state this week cited statistics showing the percentage of people who are vaccinated varies greatly by region, with substantially fewer people vaccinated in some rural areas.
Beam said so-called vaccine reluctance is a contributor and the state must work with local leaders to overcome it.
In fact, she suggested Pennsylvania’s next COVID-19 “crisis” will involve a shortage of people seeking the available doses. She said that’s based on conversations with vaccine providers all over the state who describe having available appointments, signs of shrinking demand, and eagerness to expand eligibility.
Beam said “actually convincing folks to get vaccinated is the entire other challenge that we need to be focusing on more front and center.”
In some regions in Pennsylvania, Beam said, 90% or more of people in Phase 1A have received at least a first dose. Phase 1A consists of people who face the greatest threat from COVID-19, including people 65 and older and younger adults with chronic medical conditions, and health care workers.
She said such high levels apply even to the Philadelphia region, which has produced some of the loudest complaints of insufficient supply. Bean said her regional figures are based on populations of people in Phase 1A, what she called an “aggressive” assumption that 80% of eligible people want vaccine, and doses given.
According to health department spokesman Barry Ciccocioppo, the number of Pennsylvanians in Phase 1A who had received at least one dose as of last week ranged from 68% to 95%, based on region. The highest rate, 95%, is in the southwest region. Regions with the lowest rates include southcentral, with 68%, northcentral, with 76% and northwestern, with 79%.
Beam said Pennsylvania’s expanded eligibility is driven by a number of factors, including President Joe Biden’s push to make every adult eligible for vaccine by May 1, combined with Biden’s promise of a burgeoning supply of vaccine.
That includes an expanding federal partnership with national pharmacy chains giving the chains far more doses, including abundant doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which involves only one dose and no special storage requirements.
It’s expected that by April 19, 90% of people eligible for vaccine will live within five miles of a vaccine provider, according to Beam, echoing a goal of the Biden administration.
Moreover, that scenario has prompted a “pivot” in Pennsylvania’s vaccination strategy toward less emphasis on large-scale vaccine clinics, which Beam said are no longer “the most prudent use of our resources.”
After announcing the eligibility expansion on Wednesday, Beam was pressed on whether the action will trigger repeats of the scramble for vaccine and frustration that persisted for weeks after the previous major eligibility expansion on Jan. 19. She said accounts of providers across the state telling of abundant appointment openings, combined with the federal commitment to supply enough vaccine, convince her there won’t be a repeat.
However, she said the state will pivot again if events dictate.
Within hours of Pennsylvania expanding eligibility, news broke that 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine were destroyed because of a manufacturing mistake at a Baltimore production facility.
Still, Biden said federal officials still expect to provide enough vaccine for all adults by the end of May, and that Pfizer is shipping doses ahead of schedule and Moderna may soon ship more, The New York Times reported.
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