Feeling the pinch
Officials unsure why region lags behind others in vaccinations
The arrival of the COVID vaccine in December provided hope that an end to the pandemic was near.
However, the rollout of the vaccine in Pennsylvania, particularly in the southeastern part of the state, continues to frustrate residents, vaccine providers and county officials.
Limited vaccine supply has made it difficult for people to find vaccine appointments and for vaccine providers that are dependent on the state’s weekly allocation of doses to make appointments available.
County officials in the region also share these frustrations as the state remains in Phase 1A of its vaccination plan.
Vaccine supply is limited across the U.S. and Pennsylvania, but some regions have been receiving higher allocations of doses per capita, resulting in a higher number of people vaccinated than other regions and counties.
The southeast was a target of the state’s focus in the early months of the pandemic. It was a hot spot for cases and the last to go green, fully reopen, in the state during the shutdown.
Based on vaccine allocations and the number of people vaccinated since December, the region does not appear to be receiving the same amount of attention when it comes to vaccine distribution.
With other regions and counties seemingly doing well with their vaccination efforts, why is the southeastern part of the state lagging behind?
Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam acknowledged during a media briefing Thursday that there have been flaws in the distribution in the southeast.
She said a meeting with representatives of counties in the region was scheduled for Thursday morning but was postponed so her staff could do a deep dive into the issue. She said the meeting would be rescheduled.
Not all counties in the region were invited to the meeting. Berks County officials said they were not invited.
Montgomery County
The uncertainty about the formula that determines
how much vaccine an area gets is shared by Montgomery County commissioners Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, who said she is hoping for increased transparency from the state Department of Health.
“I think…it’s probably
fair to say that none of us understand what the (vaccine) allocation algorithm is for the southeastern Pennsylvania counties,” she said. “So, I’m looking for more transparency. I’m looking to understand how these allocation decisions are being
made. I’m hoping that once that information is given to us and we understand it, we will be able to better advocate for more doses here to our region.”
As a physician Arkoosh has been at the forefront of Montgomery County’s efforts
to combat COVID-19 and provide citizens with the latest information regarding the outbreak.
She noted that southeast Pennsylvania provides a substantial contribution to the state’s revenue and tax base, a bigger contribution than its proportion of the population.
Arkoosh said the region should be receiving more vaccines — something she hopes happens soon — and that officials are prepared to dispense the doses.
“Everybody who lives here knows that people travel between our counties for work, for recreation and all sorts of activities, and that we need to get the southeast back as an entity, as a whole, as a whole region, in order to get our economic engine back on track here for the entire commonwealth,”
Arkoosh said.
Arkoosh said the county is ready to open additional mass vaccination sites when vaccine supplies increase.
“I want to be very clear, it’s a delivery of vaccine issue,” she said. “The vaccine situation is changing on a daily basis, and I want to ask our community to have understanding and patience during this ongoing situation.”
Arkoosh said people send her heartbreaking stories about needing vaccines for themselves and loved ones but there’s nothing she can do.
“It’s really tough,” she said. “It makes me die inside a little bit every single day.
“I’m a physician and my whole life has been spent