On Monday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health unveiled a website to help move along the COVID-19 vaccination process.
Click on the link, and you go to a state page with a quiz that poses a few questions to determine if you meet the criteria to get the vaccine now.
Are you over 65? Do you live in a skilled nursing or long-term care facility? Do you have any of a dozen qualifying medical conditions? Are you a health care worker? Answer the one that puts you in the right category, and you win the prize.
”Because of your pre-existing medical condition, you now qualify to get the COVID-19 vaccine.” “Good news! You are eligible for the vaccine.” “Most health care workers and those who work in long term care now qualify for the vaccine.”
You are then shown a map to find your closest provider. And that is where things get sticky.
The map is freckled with green dots that indicate the vaccine has been delivered and red dots that say it hasn’t. Some facilities offer additional information, like websites where you can put in your ZIP code only to be told no locations within 15 miles or so have availability.
That is frustrating. It also isn’t unusual. The story is the same across Pennsylvania and the country. According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said states had “unrealistic expectations” of how much vaccine was being distributed.
Where did those expectations come from if so many states have those unrealistic ideas?
”We simply do not have adequate vaccine supplies or clear notification of when and how much is coming to be able to meet this new, much larger group who can benefit,” wrote Western Pennsylvania medical leaders representing systems including UPMC, Allegheny Health Network, Excela and more.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that 31 million doses have been distributed since the vaccine first began to be released in December. Only 2 million people have received both doses. So what about the rest?
Some officials, including Pennsylvania’s secretary of health — and President Biden’s nominee to the U.S. assistant secretary position — Rachel Levine have said that doses aren’t sitting unused. Levine called that a misconception and pointed to reporting lags by retail providers such as CVS and Walgreens. But that was 10 days ago, and there still are issues.
It does not seem to be a political issue. Both Democratic-run New York and Republican Florida have reported problems with people scheduling appointments to get their shots, only to have providers call and cancel because of a shortage.
What has to be acknowledged is that this is not a problem with just one source.
Perhaps the vaccine has not been distributed in the scope that was either wanted or needed — which definitely says federal leadership fell down on planning, while scientists were working hard on development.
But states including Pennsylvania did not have to publicize a plan that may not have been ready. If there wasn’t enough vaccine, what was the point of putting out a website encouraging people to sign up for a shot?
Everyone thought developing the vaccine was going to be the hard part. Clearly it wasn’t.
— The Tribune-Review/TNS
