27°
"There is a delay of about 24 hours through the hospitals, and both through Walgreens and CVS, our partners in the long-term care mission by up to 72 hours," Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said.
"We expect that more vaccinations have been given, but that's the data we have right now."
The largest concern for the state's health department was when the shipment of the second dose of vaccinations would be set to arrive.
Officials emphasized that the federal government decided to delay the first dose of vaccinations in order to ensure that there will be an adequate amount of second dose vaccines for Phase 1A recipients.
"We can't store the second dose of vaccines for 3-4 weeks," said Levine. "We need to have it ready in time."
According to the CDC, the timeframe for the second dose of the vaccine is 21 days for Pfizer and 28 days for Moderna.
Gov. Tom Wolf reassured eager Pennsylvania that there was no exact date for phases of vaccinations.
"My administration doesn't control how much of the vaccine we get," he said, "or how we get it."
The slow rollout left Wolf and Levine disappointed last month.
“I’m personally disappointed that the vaccine couldn’t have been rolled out faster and in a more efficient manner," Wolf said at a mid-December briefing.
"Unless it increases rapidly, it’ll be months — not weeks — until it’s available to the general public.”
As of Jan.8, more than 235,000 qualified Pennsylvania residents had been vaccinated as part of Phase 1A.
Those individuals are healthcare personnel and deemed to be at the highest risk for contracting and transmitting COVID-19 to medically vulnerable populations, according to the CDC.
The new plan outlines the qualified individuals allowed to get vaccinated under Phases 1B, 1C, and 2.
Phase 1B includes people ages 75 and older, first responders, education workers, food and agricultural workers, grocery store workers, manufacturing workers, U.S Postal service workers, public transit workers, and more, the Pennsylvania Department of Health stated.
Phase 1C includes people ages 65-74, and people aged 16-64 with high-risk conditions causing an increased risk for severe disease. It also includes these essential workers -- Federal, state, county, and local government workers, food service, legal services, housing construction, finance workers including bank tellers, information technology, and more.
Phase 2 includes all individuals not previously covered who are 16 and older and do not have a contraindication to the vaccine.
All COVID-19 related news will be updated weekly on the Pennsylvania State Department of Health's website.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Elizabeth and receive free news updates.
