Montco Area Being Shortchanged By State On Vaccine, Lawmakers Say

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — While the vaccine shortage has impacted the entire state, and the entire nation, a group of lawmakers are arguing that southeastern Pennsylvania is not receiving a sufficient allocation of doses. Montgomery County specifically has been significantly impacted.

Both state legislators and a group of local U.S. Congresswomen are urging the federal government and Gov. Wolf to prioritize the area.

"Based on the age and size of population, our region needs more vaccines," said U.S. Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (PA-4), who represents most of Montgomery County.

According to a recent analysis by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Montgomery County has received just 17,667 doses of vaccine per 100,000 residents. This places the county 20th in the state, even though it has the second highest population after Philadelphia. Several other local highly populated counties, like Bucks, Delaware, and Chester, have similar differences.

This is despite Montgomery County receiving its largest shipment of first doses — 31,080 — last week.

"Our pleas to deliver more doses to SEPA have been largely left unanswered," State Sen. Katie Muth said. "I get that the supply from the federal government has not been as prominent as initially expected, but there is no reason for this disparity."

State Sen. Maria Collett said she's broached the subject with Acting Health Secretary Allison Beam.

"I have been very concerned about the number of doses coming to our region since before we had this confirmation (of the disparity)," Collett said in a social media post. " I asked the Department of Health yesterday to provide details on exactly what they are doing to correct the situation and I will continue to press them until I am satisfied that we are getting our fair share and that they are acting as quickly and efficiently as possible."

When asked during a news briefing Tuesday how the state determines allocations for each county, Senior Health Advisor Lindsey Mauldin declined to go into specifics, but said that demographics are considered and that the state works directly with providers.

Muth echoed the sentiments of Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh, who has said from the beginning of the vaccine rollout that county health departments are better equipped to administer doses, and should receive greater allocation than private providers.

The state appeared to hear these concerns two weeks ago when they announced plans to reduce the total number of providers statewide from 1,700 to around 200 in an effort to prioritize doses to the highest performing vaccine providers, like county health departments. But it's not yet clear if Montgomery County's small increase in doses is due to that, or just how much those doses will be increased.

Mauldin said on Tuesday that the new single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine would significantly increase the number of doses administered statewide. The first shipments are expected this week, although the state has not elaborated on the number of doses it expects nor how it plans on allocating them.

Dean, meanwhile, signed a letter to Gov. Wolf alongside three other local Democratic U.S. Congresswomen: Susan Wild, Mary Gay Scanlon, and Chrissy Houlahan. The letter calls for a greater allocation of doses to the area, and also urges the Wolf administration to expedite the vaccination of the 1B category.