Pa. vaccine providers must fill time slots
Days and nights spent frustratingly hopping from website to website, desperately trying to schedule an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine at countless pharmacies and hospitals only to be told there are none to be had, may be coming to an end.
A push to get all Pennsylvanians eligible for vaccination scheduled in the state’s first phase of rollout gained some teeth Thursday.
Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam signed an amendment to an existing order that requires vaccine providers to schedule appointments for anyone eligible in Phase 1A who requests one by the
end of the month.
Providers that have received first dose allocations for at least the past two weeks will no longer be allowed to tell those eligible to be vaccinated that appointments aren’t available. Instead, they must schedule an appointment, even if it’s not for weeks.
“Under this order, a vaccine provider that informs a Phase 1A individual that no appointments are available may be subject to enforcement,” a statement announcing the order read. “The order also requires providers to continue to ensure that appointments can be scheduled both by phone and using online scheduling systems.”
Enforcement includes the possibility of a provider having its supply of vaccine temporarily reduced or suspended.
Phase 1A includes anyone over the age of 65, and those age 16 to 64 with one of numerous medical conditions, health care professionals and residents of long-term care facilities.
Maggi Barton, Department of Health deputy press secretary, said Thursday that the new amendment is moving from a short-term to long-term appointment scheduling approach, something made possible by a more reliable flow of vaccine.
“This is a shift in that we want to move people from waiting lists to scheduled appointments based on the steady allocation of vaccine that providers who are receiving first doses now know weeks in advance because by focusing the provider network we are guaranteeing them a minimum allotment each week,” she said. “Rather than limit appointments to the number of doses they have on hand, providers are now able to safely schedule weeks in advance so that people will have a date and time certain for when they will be able to receive their vaccine.”
It is unclear how the updated order will play out in practice. The Department of Health has not provided guidelines on how providers are to schedule appointments for all remaining Phase 1A patients in the next six days.
Many providers have waiting lists hundreds or thousands of names long, and others have been scheduling appointments on a short-term basis only after they learn how many doses they will receive for the week.
“Rather than limit appointments to the number of doses they have on hand, providers are now able to safely schedule weeks in advance so that people will have a date and time certain for when they will be able to receive their vaccine.”
— Maggi Barton, Department of Health deputy press secretary
And according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 68% of Pennsylvanians age 65 or older have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose — which ranks 35th out of 50 states.
That means a little over 768,000 people in that age category might still want to schedule their first dose.
Data for other members of Phase 1A were not immediately available.
Despite Thursday’s amendment, attempts to schedule appointments online at two major pharmacy chains Thursday afternoon resulted in messages that no appointments were available.
Ed Hudon, owner of The Medicine Shoppe in Boyertown, said he currently has a waiting list of about 4,000 people. Around 2,000 fall into Phase 1A.
And while he said he thinks trying to schedule everyone in Phase 1A for an appointment by the end of March is a good goal, he isn’t sure it’s logistically possible to make that happen in less than a week.
“I don’t think all the appointments are going to be made by the deadline,” he said. “I would hope that would be the case, but I just don’t think it will happen.”
Penn State Health spokesman Scott Gilbert said Thursday the system’s hospitals, including Penn St. Health St. Joseph in Bern Township, would adhere to all state rules for vaccination distribution.
“Penn State Health has complied with all Department of Health requirements regarding COVID-19 vaccination, including the latest order issued today,” he said.
A spokesperson from Tower Health, which operates Reading Hospital, said Tower Health officials are reviewing the new Department of Health order to determine how to best meet its requirements.
Any needed updates to Tower Health’s vaccination procedures will be posted on the health network’s website.
A spokesman from Rite Aid declined to comment due to the newness of the announcement. He said he would have more details next week.
Officials from Weis Markets also declined to comment Thursday.
The new update changes a section of an amendment issued on March 16 of a February order pertaining to distribution on COVID-19 vaccines. That amendment said that providers “shall use best efforts to schedule appoint