PA Vaccine Updates: Teachers, Johnson & Johnson, Timelines

PENNSYLVANIA — Pennsylvania saw a few sweeping changes to its vaccine outlook over the past week, introducing a new plan to inoculate teachers with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and expressing optimism about a federally announced timeline for getting doses to the general public.

A total of 526,280 doses were received this week, marking the second straight week that the state has received its highest allocation yet.

There are still bumps in the road, though, as the state lags behind most of the nation in distribution efficiency, according to a New York Times analysis.

All told, the state has given 1,909,291 partial doses and 868,149 full doses as of Friday afternoon.

Pennsylvania is still working through the 1A priority category. The map linked here at the Department of Health shows providers that are currently booking appointments.

Here's a look at some of the latest developments from over the past week:

Teachers become eligible

The state announced on Wednesday that they would receive 94,600 doses of the new Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine, while pharmacies would receive 30,000. All of these doses have been earmarked for school employees, including teachers, bus drivers, janitors, food service staff, and more.

Some 4 million Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses are expected in the state by the end of March, and the bulk of teachers should be immunized by then.

Early appointments for the vaccine will be prioritized for teachers who have "regular and sustained" in-person contact with students on an average day. This includes pre-K and elementary students, students with disabilities, English learners, and other at-risk students. Teachers of older students will be next, Wolf said.

Teachers had previously not been eligible to receive the vaccine unless they fit one of the other criteria for the 1A category. There was a push to prioritize teachers in recent weeks, and the state faced renewed criticism for its decision to expand 1A to include all residents over the age of 65 while leaving teachers behind. MORE.

Mass vaccine clinics for teachers

The doses received by the Department of Health will be distributed to 28 intermediate units (regional educational agencies that coordinate educational needs) statewide. The sites will in turn send out surveys to school districts to determine how many school staff members still need the vaccine.

The Pennsylvania National Guard will run the security and logistics of these sites, while AMI Expeditionary will administer the vaccines.

There will be at least one clinic per intermediate unit, but some units covering larger geographical areas will organize more than just one site. Depending on need, some intermediate units will also organize mobile vaccine clinics to access more remote and rural school staff and teacher populations. MORE.

Public vaccinated by May?

President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the United States will have vaccine for all American adults by the end of May. Pennsylvania hopes to be ready to implement those doses, if they are indeed available by then.

"We're working on that, we would love to be in line with that," Gov. Tom Wolf said during a news briefing Wednesday. There are plans to roll out state-run mass vaccine clinics as soon as enough doses become available.

State Sen. Art Haywood, a member of the bipartisan joint legislative task force on the vaccine, cautioned that even if these doses are available in the state by the end of May, it may still take some time before everyone is vaccinated.

"I find that highly unlikely, that it all shows up on day 1, and it's all administered on day two," Haywood said. "So I do believe we've got to look at this from a practical perspective. And that's if we get all of this vaccine by the end of May, it will probably take us through June (to vaccinate everyone)." MORE.

CVS dramatically expands vaccination sites

The number of CVS pharmacies taking appointments for the shots in Pennsylvania is now 75, up from just six since the company began giving shots in the state.

The new locations announced Friday are spread throughout the entire state. MORE.

New mass vaccine sites planned at southeastern malls

Plans for several new mass vaccination sites in the southeastern part of the state were announced this week.

A community site will open at Neshaminy Mall in Bucks County. MORE.

Montgomery County is opening a third community site at the Willow Grove Mall, likely next week. MORE.

In the private sector, a mass vaccine site is under construction at King of Prussia Mall. Organizers say it could vaccinate 3,000 a day, but the Department of Health has not promised it doses. MORE.

Philly suburbs shortchanged on vaccine, lawmakers say

County leaders and state legislators say that Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware, and Chester counties are receiving insufficient allocations of doses.

According to Pennsylvania Department of Health data, those four suburban counties rank low on a list of vaccine doses received per 100,000 people in Pennsylvania. Montgomery ranks highest at 20th, followed by Chester at 29th, Bucks at 34th and Delaware way back, at 53rd. This is despite these being among the most populous counties in the state. MORE.

Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh said on Wednesday that "none of us understand what the allocation algorithm is for southeastern Pennsylvania counties" and called for increased transparency from the Department of Health. MORE.

"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." MORE.

National Guard joins effort

House Bill 326, signed into law Wednesday permits the National Guard to be mobilized to assist at mass vaccination sites, once enough vaccine becomes available to open them. The bill has been pushed by state legislators from both sides of the aisle in recent weeks.

"(The National Guard) has the infrastructure, human capital and logistics to ensure vaccine distribution is both timely and efficient," said state Rep. Tarah Toohill of Luzerne County, a sponsor of the bill. MORE.

Quarantine guidance for vaccinated updated

Under the updated guidance, people who have had both doses of a two-dose vaccine or one dose of a single dose vaccine do not need to quarantine after exposure to another person with COVID-19 if they meet certain criteria.

The criteria mandates that one must have received the full vaccine within the past three months. "This does not mean the vaccine is only effective for three months, but rather that it is unclear how long immunity from vaccine will last," the state clarified when announcing its updated guidance. MORE.

For more information on the COVID-19 vaccination in Pennsylvania, visit Patch's information hub.