Lehigh Valley hits vaccine milestone

The state Health Department reported 2,786 additional coronavirus cases Wednesday. The seven-day moving average of newly reported cases was 2,569, down 20% from 3,194 a week ago, and less than one-fourth of its record-high 10,579 cases per day in mid-December.

To date, there have been 920,634 infections statewide since the start of the pandemic.

The state reported 76 more deaths. The seven-day moving average of coronavirus-related deaths is 67, about a third of its peak in mid-January. The average daily death rate is about what it was at the end of November, but it is still six times higher than it was in September.

The 82 deaths among senior care facility residents reported Tuesday brings the total to 12,338, accounting for 52% of the state’s 23,787 deaths. The portion of Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 death toll attributable to residents in longterm care facilities has been on a slow decline over the last three months, but had once accounted for more than 3 out of 5 state deaths — and more than 4 out of 5 in Northampton County, where an outbreak at Gracedale brought in the National Guard.

State health officials credit work to inspect facilities for infection control procedures, education programs for staff in handling contagious residents, better testing and treatment, including monoclonal antibodies, and federally coordinated on-site vaccination clinics, as factors that have helped lower the risk in long-term care facilities.

Combined reports from the Philadelphia and state health departments show that 2.35 million vaccinations had been administered to 1.68 million Pennsylvanians as of midday Wednesday, with 16% of the eligible population having been at least partially immunized against COVID-19.

The Lehigh Valley has reached a milestone by having better than 1 out of 5 eligible residents — 110,566 people — at least partially immunized. Of those, almost 52,000, or 9.5% of the 16-and-over population, have received both required doses of a vaccine.

During a week when record-breaking storms thrashed the country and trashed vaccine distribution efforts, the state Health Department reports that providers still managed to get 296,000 shots into arms in 66 counties. The Philadelphia Health Department does not report specific data on total daily vaccinations.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has allotted 257,870 first doses to the state, including Philadelphia, for this week, and 276,590 for next week, split roughly equally between the Moderna and Pfizer formulations.

Pennsylvania, which has 5.3% of the country’s population, is receiving 3.3% of the program’s allotments this week. While disproportionate to the size of the population, the amount is proportionate to the severity of the pandemic in the state. California, Texas, Florida and the combined Bureau of Prisons, Defense Department, State Department, Indian Health Service, Veterans Affairs and Department of Homeland Security are getting larger shares than Pennsylvania.

But that program isn’t the only way the vaccine is getting into the state. The Federal Pharmacy Program is a separate program that provides vaccinations to long-term care facility residents and staff. The Biden administration has also initiated the Retail Pharmacy Partnership to get vaccines into neighborhood pharmacies that can reach rural and underserved populations.

The startup program has Pfizer shipping about 35,000 doses to 30 locations in Pennsylvania during its first week. They include the Rite Aid on MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township and a Walmart-sponsored clinic in Pottsville.

There were 1,972 people hospitalized as of midday Wednesday compared with 1,985 Tuesday. Of those, 239 were on ventilators, and 433 occupied intensive care beds.

The Valley’s hospital systems reported 150 COVID-19 patients, including 26 in intensive care and 13 on ventilators.

In the Lehigh Valley, there were 173 additional cases reported, with 76 in Lehigh County and 97 in Northampton County. That brings the total to 56,844. Nine new deaths (seven in Lehigh County, two in Northampton County) bring the total to 1,389.

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