• Allegheny County announces delays to vaccination schedule,

Health official urges people to check in with providers

The Allegheny County Health Department is pushing back some COVID-19 vaccination appointments that had been set for next week, joining other providers that face a vaccine shortage.

Of roughly 6,200 people due for their second-dose shots from the department next week, the county has confirmed Monday and Tuesday appointments for about 1,400 who received their first doses Jan. 25 and 26 at the county vaccination site in Monroeville, spokeswoman Amie Downs said Friday.

Others will be scheduled “basedon supply as soon as we receive delivery and know what we have to work with for” the week, Ms. Downs said in a statement. They include about 1,700 health care and other front-line workers whose second-dose vaccinations will be rescheduled within the 42-day window recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ms. Downs said.

Those affected should have received alerts via email, according to the county. People expecting second shots Monday or Tuesday at the Monroeville site should call 211 to register by phone if they have not received an email with a second-dose registration link.

About 10% of the COVID-19 vaccine received and administered in the county goes to the Health Department.

Other vaccine providers, including UPMC, Allegheny Health Network and Rite Aid, confirmed pushing back some vaccination appointments too, after the Pennsylvania Department of Health said Thursday that weather-related delays would affect most vaccine providers in the state.

It wasn’t immediately clear this week how many appointments were shifted, but a state health official encouraged those with appointments to check with their providers.

Recent extreme winter weather across the nation has held up the shipment of about 6 million vaccine doses, forcing the closure of some vaccination sites. Complicating matters in Pennsylvania, the state warned Wednesday that a separate problem involving the premature use of some second-dose Moderna shots would lead to appointment delays for as many as 115,000 people.

At the Allegheny County Health Department, a vaccine shipment expected this week did not show up, and a typical notification announcing next week’s usual shipment did not materialize either, the county said.

“Based on that, ACHD does not have in its possession enough vaccine, nor assurances that it would receive enough vaccine, to provide second doses for all those who are reaching the 28-day minimum time period during the coming week,” the county said.

Appointments are not yet available for those who were due to receive second doses at the Monroeville site between Wednesday and Feb. 27, the county said. They will receive information by email when more vaccine supply is available, and their second doses will still be administered within the CDC-recommended window, according to the county.

Further, the county will not provide any first-dose vaccination clinics next week, although that could change depending on vaccine supply, it said.

“The supply of vaccine in Pennsylvania faces two challenges at this moment — a string of bad weather delaying shipment and a shortage for second doses,” county health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said in a statement. “The county Health Department is committed to being a good partner and part of the solution as the state responds to these challenges.

“The priorities of the ACHD during this period are to create as little disruption as possible for those due for their second doses and to fully vaccinate those 65 and older, who are at the greatest risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19,” Dr. Bogen added.

The first and second shots of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are identical, with the second acting as a booster for the first. Separated by a few weeks, the two shots together complete the vaccination process.