New cases, deaths stable; 193,000 vaccine doses delivered Tuesday

The effort to get the public vaccinated against COVID-19 before viral variants can proliferate is getting more tools, with a third vaccine and new initiatives at both the federal and state levels.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health released data Wednesday showing that 270 vaccination providers have verified delivery of 193,420 first and second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines on Monday and Tuesday. The number includes more than 16,000 doses delivered for use in the Lehigh Valley.

The Health Department generally updates the check-in list on Wednesdays and Fridays. The list does not distinguish between first or second doses. Close to 2,000 vaccination providers are enrolled in the program.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a total of 384,290 doses of all three vaccines would be distributed to Pennsylvania this week. The totals include separate allocations for Philadelphia.

An additional 75,490 doses of both two-shot vaccines are being delivered directly to pharmacies under a separate CDC program called the Federal Retail Pharmacy Partnership. Both standalone and grocery store pharmacies get vaccines directly from the federal government over and above the state allocation. Those extra doses are to be used for prioritized populations.

President Joe Biden announced that the program’s priority for March will be school and child care employees, with the goal of getting all kindergarten through high school teachers at least partially immunized this month.

At the state level, the Wolf administration announced that it and the legislative vaccine task force agreed to set aside the week’s 94,000 doses of the newly approved one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine for teachers. Another 13,100 doses of the J&J vaccine are going to Philadelphia, which the CDC administers separately.

On top of those initiatives, the CDC’s program for long-term care provides administration and management of vaccination clinics for residents and employees at facilities in every state except West Virginia. The program has overseen about 390,000 vaccinations in Pennsylvania long-term care facilities and 7.2 million such vaccinations nationwide.

Combined data from the state and Philadelphia health departments show that more than 332,000 vaccinations have been administered over the last seven days, averaging over 47,000 each day. Cumulatively, 2.9 million shots have been given to almost 2 million people, accounting for 19% of the 16-and-over population that is eligible for vaccination.

Close to 125,000 Lehigh Valley residents — 22.7% of the eligible population — have gotten a shot in the arm: 59,728 (10.9%) are partially immunized; 64,945 (11.8%) are fully immunized against COVID.

Cases

The main indicators in Pennsylvania’s coronavirus pandemic — new cases, deaths and hospitalizations — are relatively stable, according to reports from the state Health Department, at fourmonth lows, although they are still several times higher than six months ago.

The state Department of Health reported 2,577 additional coronavirus cases on Wednesday. The seven-day moving average of newly reported cases was 2,540, down 1% from 2,569 a week ago.

To date, there have been 938,411 infections statewide since the start of the pandemic last March.

Deaths

Overall: 69 compared with 74 on Tuesday. The seven-day moving average of deaths per day is 55, compared with 67 a week ago.

Senior care: 76 compared with 16 on Tuesday. That brings the total to 12,546, accounting for 51.9% of the state’s 24,169 deaths.

Hospitalizations

There were 1,648 people hospitalized as of midday Wednesday compared with 1,670 Tuesday. Of those, 186 were on ventilators, and 357 were in ICU beds.

Hospitals in the Lehigh Valley reported 150 COVID-19 patients Wednesday, compared with 157 the day before. Twenty patients were in intensive care, with 13 of those on ventilators.

Testing

There were 10,204 test results reported Wednesday, with 18% of them positive, compared with 18.1% on Tuesday.

The overall positive test rate is 17.1% since the state’s first cases were reported March 6, 2020.

Lehigh Valley

Cases: 199 additional case reports, with 78 in Lehigh County, 121 in Northampton County. That brings the total to 58,065.

Deaths: Six new deaths (five in Lehigh County, and one in Northampton County), compared with 11 the day before. That brings the total to 1,422, (773 in Lehigh, and 649 in Northampton).

Senior journalist Eugene Tauber can be reached at etauber@mcall.com.