As Pennsylvania and the nation continue to ramp up to get individuals vaccinated to control the pandemic and help us return to some sense of normalcy, new implementation questions arise each week and the Department of Health modifies its Pennsylvania COVID-19 Vaccination Plan. Some of the points DOH has repeatedly emphasized include:
- Focus should be on vaccination of Phase 1A eligible individuals (healthcare workers and elderly in long-term care facilities) at the present time
- That said, when confronted with the option of wasting dosages in a vial because no eligible Phase 1A candidates are available or giving to someone in a different phase, DOH urges NOT to waste any vaccine
- FQHCs and Hospitals were the first to receive vaccine supply—DOH is requiring these vaccine administrators to use at least 10% of supply received to vaccinate “non-affiliated” Phase 1A eligible individuals
- Administer vaccines you receive, DO NOT reserve or hoard them—failure to do so will limit additional supplies both to you and the state and hamper vaccination progress (to date, only 26.31% of vaccines supplied to Pennsylvania are in arms rather than storage)
- Do NOT order or reserve vaccine for second doses—DOH will automatically send second doses at the appropriate time
PACHC participates in DOH’s weekly Vaccine Open Forum and provides a summary of the questions asked and answers given along with our weekly summary of information shared during our regular Wednesday All FQHC CEO Call. If you have questions on vaccine administration, please let us know by contacting Eric Kiehl, PACHC Director of Policy and Partnerships.