Pennsylvania blunder delays COVID-19 vaccinations
There were bound to be bumps in the road of getting Pennsylvanians vaccinated against the coronavirus. Most folks were willing to buckle up for a rough ride as long as we got to our destination. I was.
But when a simple mistake compounds to the point where as many as 115,000 people may face delays in getting their vaccinations, that’s no longer a bump.
That’s government incompetence. It’s the kind of failure that can result in people losing confidence in the system.
Acting state Health Secretary Alison Beam tried to put a positive spin on the “situation,” as she described it Wednesday during a virtual news conference. She opened by declaring that she was there “to reaffirm the department’s commitment” that people will be able to get their second dose of the vaccine within the 42 days set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
She only had to publicly reaffirm it because a problem that started early last month festered and jeopardized that commitment.
Beam said some vaccine providers had “inadvertently” given people their first dose of Moderna vaccine from the supply that was supposed to be reserved for second doses.
It wasn’t an isolated incident. That, along with what Beam cryptically described as “inventory was pushed out that wasn’t in accordance with the Operation Warp Speed calendar,” snowballed over the past six weeks or so.
“It was a week-over-week structural problem,” Beam said.
The result: The state is perhaps 115,000 doses short of having enough Moderna to be used for the second shot people need to be fully vaccinated. The state plans to catch up over the next two-and-a-half weeks, but it will mean pushing back appointments.
Beam said between 30,000 and 60,000 appointments for second doses could be rescheduled for one or two weeks later. And 30,000 to 55,000 appointments for first doses could be delayed, as that supply is used for second doses instead.
Allentown area residents will be affected by this, as Lehigh Valley
Health Network and St. Luke’s University Health Network are among those that have to reschedule appointments as a result, the networks announced Wednesday.
The problem affects only people getting the Moderna vaccine. It does not impact those getting the Pfizer vaccine, which also requires two doses.
While two doses of Moderna are required for full vaccination, there is no difference between the ingredients in the shots. So those who received what was supposed to be someone else’s second dose as their first dose won’t suffer health complications.
And a delay of a week or two won’t make the vaccine less effective, as the second shot can be given between 28 and 42 days after the first, according to the CDC.
But those who have to wait longer for their second dose will be less protected against COVID-19 for a longer time.
The discovery was made last weekend, according to a department spokesman. Boxes containing the doses did not mark them as first or second doses. But the state should have had an accounting of that, as it determines how doses are allocated to vaccine providers. And since it receives data from providers about the doses they administered, it should have recognized sooner that a problem was brewing.
Beam said the Health Department disclosed the problem Wednesday because it wanted to be transparent. She refused, though, to identify the vaccine providers that made the mistake.
“We are not here to have blame placed anywhere,” she said.
If vaccine providers — we don’t know if it was one or several or if it was a pharmacy, a hospital or health system, a clinic or a health bureau weren’t following repeated instructions, then they are to blame.
And so is the state.
As far as being transparent, the department had to disclose the problem. If so many appointments are going to be rescheduled, word was going to get out. So the department tried to head off that public relations nightmare.
Beam wasn’t immediately forthcoming about how many people this could affect. She didn’t offer numbers until she was asked repeatedly by reporters during the news conference.
Beam has only been acting secretary for about four weeks, so this doesn’t rest solely on her shoulders. Her predecessor, Dr. Rachel Levine, ran the department in early January before leaving to join President Joe Biden’s administration.
Beam acknowledged there were “communications shortcomings” with vaccine providers and said communication would improve going forward.
She said the vaccine rollout is an unprecedented undertaking, and there is “always an opportunity to do better.”
That’s what the department has been saying for a while now. It’s time to actually do it.