Pa. Accelerating Vaccinations; More than 4 Million Administered

Gov. Tom Wolf and Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam on March 19 detailed the state's vaccination progress as the process accelerates.

"The pace of vaccinations in Pennsylvania is accelerating each day," Gov. Wolf said. "We know we have more work to do. We appreciate all the providers and locations working to vaccinate Pennsylvanians. The commonwealth is committed to ensure that we can vaccinate all those in Phase 1A as soon as possible."

As of Friday, March 19

(Cumulative since vaccinations started in December 2020)

• Vaccine providers have administered 4,043,398 total vaccine doses as of Friday, March 19 – 2,699,008 first/single doses and 1,344,373 second doses.

• 1,428,867 people are fully vaccinated, an increase of 309,869 over last week's total.

• 1,270,141 people are partially vaccinated, meaning they have received one dose of a two-dose vaccine.

• Combining those fully vaccinated and those who have received one dose only to date means 2,699,008 have received at least one dose of vaccination.

• 24.1 percent of Pennsylvanians have received at least one dose of vaccine.

An analysis of CDC data on the number of vaccines administered per 100,000 of population over the past week (through March 17), puts Pennsylvania second in the nation, behind New Mexico.

Federal Pharmacy Partnership Program

Federal pharmacy partnership vaccinations continue, with vaccinations of skilled nursing facilities expected to be completed soon.

As of March 19, CVS has administered 361,919 doses of vaccine. 216,705 of these are first doses and 143,817 are second doses.

As of March 19, Walgreens has administered 56,548 doses of vaccine. 38,590 of these are first doses and 17,958 are second doses.

How Pennsylvania Compares

One-quarter of Americans age 65 and older live in one of three states: California, Florida, and Texas. Seven other states – Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania – account for another quarter of older adults.*

Pennsylvania is on par or doing a better job providing first doses than every other state with a large population of older adults.

The state is also on par with comparative states for fully vaccinating people.

These percentages include all adults 18-plus and percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Pennsylvania: 24 percent first doses; 12 percent fully

New York – 24 percent first doses; 12 percent fully vaccinated

Illinois – 24 percent first doses; 13 percent fully vaccinated

North Carolina – 23 percent first doses; 13 percent fully vaccinated

California – 23 percent first doses; 11 percent fully vaccinated

Ohio – 22 percent first doses; 13 percent fully vaccinated

Michigan – 22 percent first doses; 12 percent fully vaccinated

Florida – 22 percent first doses; 12 percent fully vaccinated

Texas – 20 percent first doses: 10 percent fully vaccinated

*Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

State's COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts Speeding Up

By CHRISTEN SMITH

The Center Square

Federal data shows Pennsylvania's vaccination efforts sped up in the past week, the Department of Health said on March 18.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranked Pennsylvania number two nationwide, second only to New Mexico, for vaccines administered per 100,000 residents over the past seven days.

To date, about 1.3 million residents have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccines. Some 2.8 million have received at least one dose, so far.

"That is proof that the pace of vaccination is accelerating here," said acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam. "But let me be clear, we have a very long and challenging road ahead of us."

Beam said the state's vaccine supply still lags demand, though Pennsylvania remains on track to open eligibility to all adults on May 1, per President Joe Biden's goal.

That doesn't mean everyone will get a shot right away, Beam clarified, noting that it will take weeks to schedule and administer the vaccines to everyone who wants one.