Single-Dose Shots Will Be Provided To Boost County Vaccination Efforts

As Pennsylvania looks to expand vaccine eligibility in April, two controversial state-run mass vaccination sites that were to cover Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties have been cancelled.

Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam confirmed to reporters Wednesday that the initial allocation of 42,000 single-dose Johnson & Johnson shots will now be provided to the four county health departments’ to bolster their efforts to vaccinate residents.

The news came during a press conference where Beam announced all Pennsylvanians would be able to get the vaccines starting Monday, April 19. A slew of other adjustments to the state’s vaccination rollout were also announced.

The Bucks County Health Department has four mass vaccination clinics open and plans to open two more.

Bucks County Commissioners Chairperson Diane Ellis-Marseglia told LevittownNow.com she is aware the state has shifted their plans and will provide the Johnson & Johnson vaccine directly to the county health department, which is something she and the two other commissioners have requested for weeks.

Beam explained the decision was because of the federal government’s shift to expand efforts to provide more doses directly to pharmacies. The goal is to have 90 percent of Americans within 5 miles a vaccine site by mid-April.

“We pivoted and we knew that the regional mass vax sites were not the most prudent use of our resources,” she said.

State Sen. Art Haywood, a Democrat from Philadelphia and the only southeastern region member of the state COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force, told reporters there were a “large number of factors” which were in play, including the feedback from the counties and lawmakers.

Haywood added the federal effort to surge vaccines to pharmacies was a major factor in not opening the sites.

Beam stated the goal was to get “shots in arms as quickly as possible.”

The state mass vaccination clinics were to be run by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) and Pennsylvania Department of Health. The one closest to Bucks County was to be located at the Montgomery Mall, a roughly 80-minute round trip from Levittown.

State officials had not made clear how the centers would operate.

The move to create state-run mass vaccination sites in the region came after frustration in the suburbs following an analysis earlier this month by the Philadelphia Inquirer that showed suburban counties were getting less vaccine doses per capita than many smaller, rural counties.

On March 19, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick teamed up with Ellis-Marseglia and a bipartisan group of area state legislators, including State Rep. Frank Farry, State Rep. Tina Davis, and State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, to write a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf and Health Secretary Beam.

“Bucks and Montgomery counties have the existing infrastructure and resources to handle an influx of direct shipments if the state decides to forgo the mass vaccination centers and send those earmarked allocations to the counties equally,” the lawmakers wrote.

Farry said he was pleased with Wednesday’s news of the cancellation of the clinics.

“The goal is to get shots to people who need them as quickly and efficiently as possible,” stated Farry, noting the counties already have their clinics operating.

State lawmakers found out about the change in an email from the Wolf administration shortly before Wednesday’s late-morning announcement.

There were efforts in the legislature to preempt the state’s creation of mass vaccination clinics in the region.

State Rep. Meghan Schroeder, a Republican from Warminster Township, authored an amendment recently to House Bill 63 that would have given given southeastern Pennsylvanian counties sole authority to operate mass vaccination sites.

The amendment passed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives with support from Farry and State Rep. John Galloway, a Democrat from Falls Township. Davis said she supported the county getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but she didn’t vote for the amendment.

“The bill had a few good things but it also bogs down the Department of Health in mandated data dumps, graphs, and charts when they need to be focused on getting more vaccines to our people. This is just more political gamesmanship, not a solution. HB 63 does not get rid of the ill advised regional vaccination sites or divert the supply back to the existing Bucks County infrastructure, it simply puts the Bucks allocation into the hands of Montgomery County officials instead. I’m not sure how that better serves my constituents. We need real solutions, not legislative window dressing,” she said.

Farry responded to Davis’ vote and comment. He said the amendment would give vaccines directly to counties.

“The bill is clear and that is why the vast majority of suburban Republican and Democrat representatives voted for it,” he said. “We were opposed to our residents having to travel to another county to get vaccinated at a mass site. We want the shots going to our county department of health to distribute through their regional clinics so our residents could be vaccinated locally. “

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include additional comment from State Rep. Farry.

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