Mar 11, 2021 2 min read

Pennsylvania COVID-19 vaccinations have been slowly increasing, but demand for the shots continues to outpace the supply.

State Department of Health Communications Director Barry Ciccocioppo said this week’s allocation of first doses in Pennsylvania is 254,150. Providers, meanwhile, have requested 425,000 first doses.

In a media briefing Wednesday, Ciccocioppo said officials can’t predict when supply and demand will keep pace, but said he’s certain it won’t happen in the next several weeks.

“I know it seems like a long way off, but we will get there,” Ciccocioppo said, noting that the state is receiving more vaccines every week.

This week, 12,000 more first doses were allocated to Pennsylvania, he said. Since the vaccination rollout, Ciccocioppo said, 3.1 million vaccinations have been administered Pennsylvania.

Ciccocioppo said the past seven days had an average of 67,000 people getting a dose every day, and a few days in the previous week had over 110,000 people receiving the vaccine.

One of the concerns brought to Ciccocioppo included counties like Westmoreland, where state officials said the county vaccine supply is ranked near the bottom of the state’s 67 counties, yet 12th in total deaths, 11th in total cases and ninth in residents 65 or older.

Ciccocioppo said additional doses have been sent to regional providers to distribute in Westmoreland County. He also noted that 18% of the county’s population has been vaccinated – a number above the state’s 15%, and nationwide average of 10%.

“The focus shouldn’t be on how many doses can I get for my county, it should be how many people in my county are getting vaccinated,” Ciccocioppo said.