Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Patience urged in waiting for vaccines
Delaware County is poised to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine with allotted locations, personnel and equipment. The only thing they’re missing, like everywhere else in the country, is the supply.
“We are prepared for the vaccine, we are just waiting for it,” Rosemarie Halt, the director of Delaware County’s COVID Task Force, said.
As of Saturday, 3,406 Delaware County residents had received both needed shots for the vaccine and 17,923 had received the first dose, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. There are approximately 560,000 people living in Delaware County.
County officials reported receiving 1,200 doses of vaccine last week and anticipate receiving 2,000 more this week.
This at a time when positivity rates seem to be declining but hospitalizations are increasing.
“The percent positivity is 9.9 percent and is showing a downward trend for the county, really for the first time since Thanksgiving,” Halt said. “However, we have seen an uptick of COVID hospitalizations from 149.1 to 197.9 over the last seven days.”
Delaware County is not alone in its limited vaccine supply. The state reported that Bucks County had 5,676 fully covered with the vaccine and 16,987 having received partial doses. In Chester County, 2,240 had the full amount and 15,249 had one dose and were waiting on another. In Montgomery County, 6,387 had been fully vaccinated and 31,318 had one dose.
On Saturday, Delaware County was reporting 33,306 were positive for the virus and 1,076 had died because of it. So far, the recovery rate is 81.9 percent here.
“We are doing our very best directly and Chester County Health Department is as well to advocate to ensure that we get our share,” county Councilman Kevin Madden said of Delaware and surrounding counties. “We’re all sort of disappointed. We all would like to see more folks getting vaccinated. There are no less Delaware County residents getting vaccinated than our neighboring counties.”
Added to the challenge was the expansion of the 1A classification. The vaccine is being distributed through a phased approach and individuals must register in advance and can do so at https://www.delcopa.gov/ich/resources/coronavirus.html. Once a person registers, they will receive a telephone call about where and when they will receive their vaccine.
However, on Tuesday, the state, in following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, updated the 1A classification to include all people over 65 years old and those between 16 and 64 with one or more of the following conditions: Cancer; chronic kidney disease; COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease); Down syndrome; heart conditions, such as
heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies; an immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant, blood or bone marrow transplant; immune deficiencies; HIV; use of corticosteroids; or use of other immune weakening medicines; obesity or severe obesity; pregnancy; sickle cell disease; smoking; or Type 2 diabetes mellitus.
County officials said this change adds more than 94,000 people over 64 years old and another 80,000 in the 16-to-64 special medical condition category.
Halt stressed that the supply was in short supply and that suppliers were overwhelmed.
“The vaccine supply is extremely limited,” she said, adding that vaccines are provided by appointment only. “Delaware County is cooperating with our other vaccine providers in the county including our health systems to ensure equitable distribution of vaccine.”
She added that long-term care facilities are being coordinated at the state level through federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program. She recommended that other congregate care facilities not covered by this program should reach out to the state.
One thing emphasized was once Delaware County has supply, there is a mechanism in place to distribute efficiently.
“The county has a robust vaccination plan,” Halt said. “It includes four permanent vaccination locations in the county and plans for mass vaccination sites if vaccines become more readily available. The current locations that are operational this week and next week will be in Aston and in Yeadon.”
Once the vaccine is in county hands, mass vaccinations can begin as the county is already set up to begin distribution.
“We estimate that with four vaccination sites operating five days a week, we would be able to maintain a volume of 10,000 vaccinations a week just done by the county,” Halt said, adding that that capacity can be expanded.
However, the county, like others, is not there yet - all because of the supply issue.
“Frankly, there is just such a limited supply of vaccine that it could be several weeks to months before you could get an appointment so we ask you to be patient,” Halt said.
She added that Delaware County will be opening a call center this week to help answer questions and to assist those without access to a computer to get on the list for future appointments for vaccines.
Dr. Lisa O’Mahony, Delaware County’s interim physician adviser, explained how the county’s vaccine works.
“The county has been allocated the Moderna vaccine,” she said. “For those 18 and over, it requires two doses, 28 days apart.”
She explained that area hospitals are primarily using the Pfizer vaccine with both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines appearing to be safe and effective in trials.
Halt added that the hospitals themselves get a very limited supply of vaccine, and are only charged with dosing 10 percent of their unaffiliated health care workers.
“We ask you to be patient,” Halt said. “Information will be forthcoming but the current vaccine providers in Delaware County just can’t meet the demand of 30 percent of our population getting vaccinated right now.”
O’Mahony reminded that there are other ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“We continue to remind the community that the vaccine is just one tool in the effort to limit the virus,” she said. “We reinforce the importance of masks, social distancing, hand washing and certainly avoiding large gatherings.”
County officials underscored the lack of vaccine out there for Delco or anywhere else.
“The reason that more people in Delaware County aren’t getting vaccinated is because there is not enough vaccine for us to get out to folks,” county Council Chairman Brian Zidek said. “It’s not that we’re not ready to give it out. It’s not that others aren’t ready to give it out ... providers, hospitals, pharmacies. We’re all ready. There just isn’t enough vaccine. Hopefully, that will be resolved in short order and we’ll be able to do more. But until then, there’s not really much we can do other than jump up and down and try to get more vaccine.”
Officials asked the public to wait with understanding.
“Once again, our message is to be patient as we try to respond to the limited vaccine and shifting landscape of the COVID epidemic,” Halt said.
The county plans to feature an update of the COVID vaccine situation at the beginning of every regularly scheduled county council meeting on the first and third Wednesdays of the month at 6 p.m. The meetings are held online and can be viewed on the county website at delcopa.gov.