Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Chesco says partial vaccination total in error
County: Software reporting issue making Pennsylvania dashboard number too high
One county has said that its number of partial vaccinations is not correct on the Pennsylvania Department of Health COVID dashboard, that is nearby Chester County.
In Pennsylvania as the demand for a COVID vaccine diminishes, the ratio of completed vaccinations to the remaining partials is about 3.5 to 1: More than 5 million completed to slightly more than 1.4 million partials.
In Berks that ratio is approaching 4 to 1, according to the Saturday report of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, with Berks having about 162,000 completed versus 43,000 partials in a county of about 420,000 residents.
In adjoining Lancaster County, the ratio is more than 5 to 1. In heavily populated Delaware and
Bucks counties the ratios are also in the 3 or 4 to 1 range.
According to the Pa. health department’s dashboard, there are two adjoining counties where the ratios are much different: Chester and Montgomery.
In Chester there are nearly 220,000 completed to about 150,000 partials listed on the dashboard, a ratio of about 1.5 to 1 in a county of about 525,000 residents.
That would mean 370,000 residents, or 70%, have at least started the process. Using the most recent census data, there are 407,000 Chester residents 18 and older, meaning more than 80% might have received the first shot.
“That number (of partials) is not accurate,” said Jeanne Franklin, director
of the Chester County Health Department, last week. “We have been in conversation with the state (health department) for a while to try to figure that out.”
The reporting was fouled up because of automated software. Manual entry of the vaccinations data proved to be more reliable, Franklin said.
“We started taking a look at that number a few weeks ago,” she said. “The (Chester County) Health Department does 50% of the vaccinations in the county and there are nowhere near that many people left to go.”
The state rate for 18-plus is approaching 57% and it is a couple points lower in Berks. Only recently have 12- to 17-year-olds become eligible for a vaccine.
In Montgomery County, there are nearly 325,000 completed inoculations listed on the state dashboard with about 195,000 partials, a ratio a little higher than 1.5 to 1 in a county of about 830,000.
Those numbers mean 520,000 residents have at least started the process, about 64%, with a census based estimate of 651,000 residents age 18 and up.
Montgomery County and the state Department of Health have not responded to several Reading Eagle inquiries about the issue.
Chester and Montgomery are the seventh and third-most populous counties in Pennsylvania, respectively, and their statistics weigh heavily into overall state calculations.
Two lightly populated counties, McKean and Sullivan, also have off-thec-harts ratios of partial vaccinations to completed, according to the dashboard. Those circumstances are unclear. Their combined population is 10% of the Chester population.
Weekly report
The weekly update of the Early Warning Dashboard from the state Department of Health shows there’s not much lower to go.
Berks had nine fewer cases for the week ending Thursday than for the week ending June 3, with a positivity rate of 2.6%.
Pennsylvania overall was down 1,006 cases, with a positivity rate of 1.9%.
The cases data is based only on the nasal swab test, the PCR, considered a confirmed COVID case.
The health department utilizes the the Early Warning Dashboard for the community spread and positivity rate watchlists, which are issued Monday.
It’s unclear if there will be any further watchlists. Except for a few of the lightly populated counties, all others were below the infection threshold and the positivity rate benchmark of 5%.
The positivity rate is a measure of all positives against all tests, even taking into account those who are repeatedly tested for personal or professional reasons.
Daily update
The vaccination numbers for Berks County and Pennsylvania continued to be tale of two directions Saturday in the state Department of Health daily COVID dashboard update.
There were 1,657 more Berks residents completing the process for a pandemic total of 162,497.
There were 1,035 fewer in the partial inoculations column for a pandemic total of 42,554.
About 205,000 Berks residents have at least started the process, the state reports.
For those getting the two-shot Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, the partial numbers migrate to completed.
Those getting the oneshot Johnson & Johnson dose are considered completed. The state does not provide a county breakdown on J&J doses, but there are few of those shots sent to Berks.
Across Pennsylvania, there were about 29,000 more completed vaccinations for a pandemic total of 5.05 million. And the partial column showed about 15,000 fewer for 1.46 million.
On Friday, the health department reported the percentage of Pennsylvanians age 18 and older who are fully vaccinated increased to 56.6%. The agency issues no figures on Saturday.
The Wolf administration will lift the remaining mask order at 70% or on June 28. At the current pace, it’ll be June 28.
The 50% threshold was reached May 20, and by June 1 it was 54.2%. The rate has been increasing by one- or two-tenths of a percentage point daily. Even at two-tenths daily, it’ll be at 60% on June 28.
The 12- to 17-year-olds are not a part of the calculation. Anyone getting a vaccination in a federally supervised clinic is not part of the calculation.
The Berks population is roughly 421,000, with about 371,000 eligible for a vaccine. The state population is about 13 million.
Other COVID statistics for Berks in the daily report:
• 19 more cases for a pandemic total of 48,254.
• The seven-day average of cases stayed at 22 and the 14-day fell to 26.
• Nine hospitalized, with five in intensive care.
• Pandemic death toll the same at 1,035. Statewide:
• 412 more cases for a pandemic total closing in on 1.21 million.
• 572 hospitalized, down 27 from Friday, including 158 in intensive care.
• 17 deaths for a pandemic total of 27,474.
Each new case is a new person testing positive. Each day’s report is a composite of statistics compiled from the previous day.
The state reports deaths of those who identify as Berks residents, and the county coroner reports deaths within Berks, which include 53 who are not residents. The coroner’s toll remained at 975.