HARRISBURG – Governor Tom Wolf is voicing some concern and frustration over Pennsylvania’s low vaccine supply despite Phase ‘1A’ being recently expanded.
During a news conference Tuesday, Governor Wolf says the state thought the federal government would expand its distribution of doses to accommodate the expansion, but that hasn’t happened, “In fact, it turned out there was no stock pile that was going to be thrown open to the market. It’s frustrating and disappointing because we’ve all relied on the federal government through this process to make sure we have the vaccines.”
Due to the recent expansion of Phase ‘1A,’ the governor says Pennsylvania now needs to accommodate over four million people, which equals to needing eight million doses. But the state has only received 1.5 million doses from the federal government, only covering about 750,000 people for the two-dose cycle.
When asked if the state ever thought of waiting to expand Phase 1A to lessen the burden, the governor says no, “We wanted to make sure that we were getting people in line in terms of the need, and I think we’re doing that. Again, we’re constrained by the supply and I will do everything I can to encourage the Biden Administration…I know they’re doing everything they can to increase the supply and as we do that, I think some of this will ease up.”
There’s also continued concerns over high call volumes filling local hospitals as people make appointments.
In her first news conference since being named Acting Secretary of Health, Alison Beam says the state didn’t centralize a pre-registration system because it was best to keep vaccination scheduling local, “Allowing us to have that localized relationship, really I think, is the ultimate goal in making sure Pennsylvanians continue to keep the interest in the vaccine and we actually secure that critical mass being vaccinated as quickly as possible.”
PEMA Director Randy Padfield also indicated during Tuesday’s news conference vaccine community centers are being developed as well.
