State requires COVID vaccine providers to report their efficiency
The Pennsylvania Department of Health is placing more requirements on COVID-19 vaccine providers in an effort to make sure state residents are getting vaccinated quickly and efficiently.
Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam highlighted the requirements Friday while acknowledging that people are experiencing frustration in obtaining vaccinations.
“I understand how frustrating the current vaccine process can seem and we have heard from many Pennsylvanians that are struggling to schedule an appointment,” Beam said. “As there is very limited COVID-19 vaccine supply compared to demand, every possible effort must be made so that the vaccine received in the commonwealth is effectively administered. To achieve this goal, I am issuing an order outlining appropriate steps and recognized best practices to ensure vaccine providers are effectively meeting the goal of vaccinating Pennsylvanians and creating a healthy Pennsylvania for all.”
Beam’s order requires providers to administer 80% of their first doses of vaccine within seven days of receipt; follow all requirements and recommendations in the COVID-19 Interim Vaccination Plan; adhere to the current phase of Pennsylvania’s vaccine rollout; provide the COVID-19 vaccine reminder card with a date for an appointment for the second dose; make every appropriate effort to ensure available appointments for second doses; and have an online and a phone-based registration system for appointment scheduling. Information on these systems must be made available to the department, so it can be posted online.
Beam’s order includes a provision requiring providers to report vaccinations and information, including race and ethnicity of the recipient, to make sure minorities and underserved people receive vaccinations.
Within 24 hours of receipt of inventory or administration of a vaccine, providers must report the receipt of the shipment and the reduction in inventory as vaccines are administered.
Providers may have their allocation of first doses reduced, or temporarily suspended, for failure to comply with guidance from the federal government and state law, including failure to comply with the order, Beam said.
If a provider doesn’t administer 80% of its first doses within seven days of receiving them, the provider will still receive second doses. The department may grant a vaccine provider additional time to meet the 80% mark if inclement weather or infrastructure failures affected the vaccinations.
The order also requires all providers to have a phone number for appointment scheduling because some people don’t have internet access. The order went into effect Friday. The online and phone-based registration system requirements will take effect Friday, and the allocation enforcement rule takes effect Feb. 22.
In the county, 16,923 people have received one dose and 5,757 people have received both doses, according to the department.
A total of 1,523,510 doses have been administered statewide as of Feb. 11, and 175,175 first doses along with 143,275 second doses were allocated last week through Feb. 13.
Of the 2,439,550 doses allocated through Feb. 13, 1,167,402 first doses have been administered from the allocation of 1,426,600 doses and 356,108 second doses have been administered from the allocation of 1,012,950 doses.
The department also reported two new deaths and 15 new cases of COVID-19 in the county.
