Gov. Wolf: federal supply of COVID-19 vaccines fell short
When Pennsylvania expanded the COVID-19 vaccine eligibility list last week to included the most vulnerable, state officials assumed the supply of the drug would be expanded, too, Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday.
Pennsylvania and the other states in the nation rely on the federal government for the vaccines, that the expanded supply “never materialized,” Wolf said.
“That’s frustrating,” Wolf said during a virtual meeting with the media.
“Following the poorly planned and executed rollout of the vaccine by the Trump Administration, the Wolf Administration is hopeful the new Biden Administration will provide a fair and effective national vaccine distribution strategy,” Wolf stated in a news release.
Later Tuesday, President Biden announced a plan to increase the vaccine distribution next week from 8.6 million doses to 10 million doses.
He promised to increase transparency in the distribution to the states about when the vaccines will be released. Biden also said he plans to have an additional 200 million doses of the vaccines available by mid-summer.
“They seem to be making a big effort,” Wolf said before the Biden announcement.
Acting State Health Secretary Alison Beam said Pennsylvania had administered 737,817 vaccines as of Tuesday morning, that the number is likely higher due to a lag in reporting.
The state was expecting the delivery of 143,275 additional doses this week.
“Vaccination providers are working as quickly as possible,” she said.
The virus has killed 20,883 Pennsylvanians since March after 219 new deaths were announced Tuesday, including six in Fayette County and five in Washington County.
Washington County reported 73 new virus cases Tuesday, bringing its cumulative total to 12,163. Greene County’s case-count grew by 14 to 2,333. Fayette added 34 new cases to its total that grew to 9,476.
Beam said new virus cases, hospitalizations and deaths have continued to decrease across the state.