SUPPLY AND DEMAND
As more are eligible, county officials see vaccine shortage grow
NORRISTOWN » The Pennsylvania Department of Health’s changes to COVID-19 vaccine distribution guidelines announced earlier this week dramatically expanded the group of residents eligible to receive vaccines in Montgomery County but the availability of vaccine is still limited, officials said.
“There has been no comparable increase in the amount of vaccine that we are receiving. At the current rate that we are receiving vaccine it could take us a year to vaccinate all of the individuals currently in the 1A category,” county Commissioners’ Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh explained during a news briefing on Wednesday. “We have a really long way to go here and we all have to hope that the supply of vaccine increases.”
On Tuesday, state health officials expanded coronavirus vaccination protocols, opening the door for everyone 65 years and older, and those 16 to 64 with specific underlying medical conditions, to receive the vaccine.
Those categories were added to Phase 1A of the state’s phased vaccination program. Phase 1A previously included only healthcare workers and those residing in long-term care facilities. The vaccination at long-term care facilities is being completed through a federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens pharmacies.
Arkoosh said the announcement by state officials created a lot of “enthusiasm” among individuals included in the expanded group.
“It created an expectation that they could get vaccinated in the near future. Unfortunately, the other half of the message, although it was stated was not
made very clear, that we don’t have any vaccine. We don’t have anywhere close to the amount of vaccine necessary to vaccinate all of these people,” Arkoosh said. “I know it’s incredibly disappointing and frustrating.
“With these expanded definitions for the 1A group we estimate approximately 250,000 additional people will qualify for vaccination in Montgomery County as part of the Phase 1A,” Arkoosh continued. “At our current rate of receiving 5,000 doses a week it will be an awfully long time just to get through the 1A group.
“Under these new guidelines, if you were in the 1B or 1C categories only because of your job, it will now be some number of months before we will have enough vaccine to vaccinate you,” Arkoosh added, referring to other essential workers like teachers, public transit employees and grocery store clerks. “Those individuals are now potentially, depending upon the availability of vaccine, literally months from being vaccinated at this point.”
All those now eligible for the vaccine in Phase 1A can pre-register to receive the vaccine through the county health department. The pre-registration link can be found at www. montcopa.org/COVID-19 under the vaccination information button.
Three weeks ago, the Montgomery County Office of Public Health began vaccinating, at a public vaccination clinic hosted by Montgomery County Community College, those eligible in Phase 1A of the state’s vaccination plan. At the clinic, officials are administering about 1,000 doses each day.
As of Tuesday, the county health department had received 17,000 first doses of the vaccine from the state and had administered 10,603 of the doses.
“We are giving them quickly. We have not wasted any doses. We are trying to move this through as quickly as we can,” said Arkoosh, who was joined at the news briefing by fellow Commissioner Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr.
As of Wednesday, about 80,000 people had pre-registered for a vaccine appointment at the county site.
“Appointments are required to receive the vaccine. We do not take any walk-up registrations,” Arkoosh said. “The vaccine situation is changing on a daily basis and I want to ask our community’s patience and understanding during this evolving situation. It’s going very slowly because we have so little vaccine to give.”
County hospitals have also received vaccine from the state to be used to vaccinate healthcare employees. Pennsylvania hospitals began receiving shipments of the Pfizer vaccine the week of Dec. 14 and the Moderna vaccine the week of Dec. 21.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported on Wednesday that 4,402 county residents had received the full two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines through Jan. 19, during the ongoing Phase 1A of the vaccine distribution program. Another 26,404 residents had received the first dose of the vaccine, according to state data.
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses to achieve optimum protection.
Overall, state officials reported that 354,728 people received the initial first dose of the two-dose regimen through Jan. 19 and 81,009 people had received the full two doses, including the vaccines administered through CVS as part of the Federal Pharmacy Partnership.
As officials hope to be able to ramp up the vaccination program in the next several weeks, they reported on Wednesday that 195 additional people tested positive for the virus, bringing the county’s total number of cases to 40,064 since March 7, when the first two cases of the virus were identified in the county.
Eight of the daily new cases were individuals who resided in long-term care facilities, officials said. The new positive individuals included 94 males and 101 females who ranged in age from 6 months to 90 and resided in 52 municipalities.
No new COVID-19 deaths were reported on Wednesday, leaving the county’s death toll at 1,099 since the pandemic began in March.
Since March, a total of 570 females and 529 males, ranging in age from 25 to 106, have died from the virus in the county.
The overall 14-day COVID-19 positivity rate for the county, as of Jan. 15, was 9.5% which was a decrease from the 10.4% positivity rate recorded during the previous 14-day period ending Jan. 8, according to county data.
Health officials believe having a positivity rate less than 5% indicates a county is controlling the spread of the virus and keeping it suppressed.
Officials reported that the daily positivity rate in the county was above 5% every day between Jan. 2 and Jan. 15.
On Wednesday, 324 individuals with COVID-19 were in the county’s nine hospitals and 38 of the current patients require ventilators. Those figures represented a reduction from the 380 people hospitalized last week.
While vaccine is becoming available in the county, officials warned residents not to become complacent in the fight against the virus.
To flatten the current surge of COVID-19 cases in the county, Arkoosh has urged residents to wear a mask, to avoid social gatherings, to abide by handwashing recommendations, to fully cooperate if they receive a call from a contact tracer, and to download the free COVID Alert PA app onto their phone.
COVID Alert PA is a free mobile app, offered by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, that uses Bluetooth low energy technology and
the Exposure Notification System, created jointly by Google and Apple, to notify and give public health guidance to anyone who may have been in close contact with a person who also has the app and has tested positive for COVID-19.
Testing is available for all county residents and those who work in the county and want or need to be tested. The county has established outdoor walk-up testing sites in Pottstown, Norristown, Lansdale, Willow Grove, Ardmore and Green Lane to accommodate those who want to be tested.
The six county-run sites provide self-administered tests at no cost, although insurance will be billed if you have it. The sites do require an appointment for testing.
The six sites are open Monday through Friday, weather permitting. Sameday appointments can be made weekdays starting at 7 a.m. by visiting www.montcopa.org/COVID-19 and clicking on the county testing
information button. Residents can also register for a test at any of the six sites by calling 610-970-2937 beginning at 8:30 a.m. daily.
In Pottstown, the testing site is located at the county’s Office of Public Health Pottstown Health Center at 364 King St.
In Norristown, a testing site is located on the parking lot of the Delaware Valley Community Health Norristown Regional Health Center at 1401 DeKalb St. The Norristown site will also provide tests on Saturday, Jan. 23 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Registration for a test on Saturday will begin online only at 7 p.m. on Friday.
In Lansdale, a testing site is located at 421 Main St.
Another testing site is located at Deep Creek and Snyder roads in the Green Lane Park area.
In Ardmore, a testing site is located at 114 W. Lancaster Avenue. In Willow Grove, a testing site is at First Baptist Church - Crestmont, 1678 Fairview Ave.
“There has been no comparable increase in the amount of vaccine that we are receiving. At the current rate that we are receiving vaccine it could take us a year to vaccinate all of the individuals currently in the 1A category.” — Commissioners’ Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh