Pa. on track for 70% goal
Top doctor says state will reach vaccination milestone by June 28
Pennsylvania should reach Gov. Tom Wolf’s goal of having 70% of adults vaccinated for COVID-19 by June 28, the state’s acting Physician General Dr. Denise Johnson said Tuesday in Pittsburgh.
“I believe we still can make it,” Dr. Johnson said after taking a tour of UPMC South Side’s COVID19 testing area, monoclonal antibody infusion site and vaccination center.
The state reported Tuesday that 73.6% of those 18 and older have had at least one dose of the vaccine, and 57.5% are now fully vaccinated. The state said that 60.9% of all residents — adults and children — are now fully vaccinated, which ranks the state ninth across the country for overall vaccination rate.
Although some states have experienced problems with too many people not showing up for their second doses of the Moderna and Pfizer two-dose vaccines — the
Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires one dose — Dr. Johnson said that has been rare and the state could see the fully vaccinated figure jump significantly in the next two weeks.
Even if the state does not reach
the 70% goal by June 28, under Mr. Wolf’s order the state’s mandatory masking order will be rescinded. The order allows the guidance to be rescinded earlier if 70% is reached sooner,
Dr. Johnson’s tour and news conference Tuesday with Dr. Debra Bogen, director of the Allegheny County Health Department, along with leaders from UPMC, were designed as a way to continue to push to get the last segments of the population vaccinated.
To that end, Dr. Johnson, Dr. Bogen and others emphasized over and over in their prepared remarks that the vaccines have been proven safe, that they are free to everyone, and that they are now easy to get everywhere, and the state and local health departments are continuing to try to innovate to make them even easier — and enticing — to get.
Dr. Bogen noted that the county is sponsoring a vaccine clinic this Saturday at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium that allows people who have not been vaccinated to get vaccinated and get into the zoo for free that day. Then on June 24, the county is sponsoring a “Shot and a Beer Night” at East End Brewing Co. in Pittsburgh where the brewer will give those who have not been vaccinated a free beer of their choice if they get vaccinated with the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine that night.
The goal of all of this, Dr. Johnson said about when she herself got vaccinated: “I could get back to doing the things I enjoy.”
As well as the state is doing with vaccination rates, Allegheny County is doing even better, Dr. Bogen said.
Overall, 76% of all adults in Allegheny County have been partially vaccinated, she said, and nearly 100% of the most vulnerable population 65 and over has been vaccinated.
But it’s the data among children that has been most stunning recently after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
approved Pfizer’s vaccine for those 12 to 15 years old for the first time on May 10.
Among those 15 to 19 years old, the rate of those with at least one vaccination dose jumped from 37% on May 28 to 48% this week.
Even more remarkable during the same time frame, among those 10 to 14 years old, which is the established age group the county measures health data, even though only 12 and older can get the vaccine, those with at least one dose jumped from 9% to 48%.
One part of vaccinations that has become contentious is whether organizations, in particular health care-related organizations like hospitals and senior care facilities, will require that employees be vaccinated.
Nearly 200 employees at Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas walked off the job and sued the hospital recently — the lawsuit was dismissed by a judge — because they had refused to get vaccinated after the hospital began requiring it of all employees.
And initial surveys of Pennsylvania’s nursing homes and personal care and assisted living facilities released in April showed that only roughly half of staff in those facilities were vaccinated at that point. Those figures angered many who could not fathom why staff in facilities that suffered among the worst outbreaks of COVID-19 would not all be vaccinated.
Even though the state has oversight responsibilities for both nursing and personal care and assisted living homes, Dr. Johnson said Tuesday that “the ultimate decision about requiring [mandatory vaccinations for employees] will come from the organization.”
“It’s not a mandate that comes from the state. But we certainly encourage facilities to look at the best interests of the people they serve,” she said.
Dr. Don Yealy, chief medical officer for UPMC, said UPMC does not “currently” require COVID-19 vaccinations for all staff and employees.
“What we have is an aggressive, educational and convenience availability [of vaccinations] approach to getting people vaccinated,” he said during the news conference Tuesday.
About 75% of all UPMC employees are currently vaccinated, he said, which is higher than many health systems in the state and country.
The only vaccination UPMC currently requires is the seasonal flu shot for all staff and employees. That was instituted about six years ago, he said, because UPMC struggled to get voluntary vaccination rates above 60%.
“We never got near the vaccination rates we have now with COVID-19 with the influenza vaccination,” he said, until it was required.
“We do know mandates change behavior,” he said.
UPMC has experienced several documented in-hospital transmissions of COVID-19, he said, primarily after a family member who was infected visited a patient.
So will UPMC eventually require COVID-19 vaccinations of its employees?
“We’ll stay close to see what not only the governmental advice on this is, but what the national and the local data are,” he said. “And we’ll always consider those other options.”
Still, he said: “My greatest hope is [mandated vaccinations at UPMC] never has to happen, and we’re able to convince the overwhelming majority of staff to get vaccinated.”