By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Allegheny Health Network says it is suspending planning of COVID-19 vaccination for the general public due to low supply.
Wilson’s Pharmacy is one of the few in the state to administer the vaccine to the general public, and Dolores Hison considers herself a lucky guy.
“I was shocked when I came in today and found out he had it,” she said.
But don’t hope. Although the pharmacy now vaccinates members of the general public ages 65 and older, pharmacist Jeff Wilson says he almost uses up his supply of Modena vaccine as soon as the supply comes in.
“We’ll probably be out by the end of the day,” he said.
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It’s the same in the state and the country. The distribution network of pharmacies, clinics and hospital systems says they are ready to vaccinate the general public, but supply has slowed to a trickle.
Allegheny Health Network had vaccinated all of its primary care health professionals, outside clinicians, and emergency responders, and vaccinated people 75 and older. But on Friday, AHN paused planning until more stock arrives.
Think of it like a movie theater. If you’ve sold out tickets to a theater, you can’t fit anyone else in. If you can open another theater, you can bring in more people. In short, when we get more stock, we open more places, ”said Donald Whiting, AHN’s Chief Medical Officer.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has so far passed less than a pass after distributing less than half of the vaccines the state has received, and UPMC has expressed some criticism for not making its supplies available to the general public until it has already vaccinated his employees.
But Whiting says the biggest problem is the federal government’s lack of supply.
“We are very optimistic that the new administration in Washington will do this much more quickly,” he said.
UPMC gave the reason for vaccinating all of its employees in the following statement:
The vast majority of COVID-19 exposures of UPMC personnel that lead to infection or quarantine do not take place in UPMC facilities, but still have a major impact on healthcare. Vaccination of all UPMC employees is essential to our ability to continue to provide world-class care.
In a release on Friday night, the Allegheny County Health Department announced that people 65 and older can be vaccinated starting Monday at the DoubleTree Hotel in Monroeville. The county says an appointment is required and the number of appointments will be “extremely limited”.
The clinic is open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 7pm and Saturdays from 8.30am to 5pm
Via the links below you can register for appointments for the week of 25 Jan.
January 25; January 26; January 27; January 28; January 29; January 30th
The links above connect users to the PrepMod scheduling system used by ACHD and PA DOH. If a vaccination slot is available for a particular day, the link will be directed to a page entitled “Sign up for vaccinations – DoubleTree Monroeville” with the date of the clinic. Individuals can enter their details and choose a time for vaccination. Choosing a vaccination time is the last step of the registration process. After scheduling an appointment, users receive a confirmation email at the address they provided during registration, ”said a message from the department.