High Demand, Low Supply For COVID Vaccine In Bucks Co.
BUCKS COUNTY, PA — In the days since Pennsylvania made everyone 65 and older eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination, only several hundred doses have been delivered to Bucks County pharmacies and doctor's offices aside from locations already tasked with immunizing healthcare workers and nursing home residents.
Meanwhile, the handful of locations that have been announced as vaccination sites in Bucks County say they are being overwhelmed with interest without actually having received enough vaccine to administer to the public.
"Due to the high volume of calls we are receiving regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, we are no longer accepting names over the phone or in person," Burns Pharmacy, in Morrisville, said on its website.
Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine In Bucks County: Updates
The pharmacy, which is on a map of approved vaccine providers published by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, has not yet received any vaccine, according to that map. On its website, pharmacists there asked the public to register online.
"We will call you if and when we have a vaccine available for you," the post said. "We currently cannot guarantee it."
On the Department of Health map, 16 Bucks County locations are identified as vaccine providers. But only the county's hospitals, which are vaccinating their own employees, and one pharmacy are listed as currently having the vaccine.
From Tuesday through Friday (Jan. 19-22), Bucks County hospitals were the only locations to have received vaccine doses in the thousands, according to a Department of Health list. Two doctor's offices were listed as having received 100 doses of the vaccine, while one pharmacy was listed as having received 500.
Bucks County spokesman Larry King confirmed Friday that the county received its weekly shipment of 1,950 doses of the vaccine, which it is administering by appointment at a clinic in Langhorne to healthcare workers.
On Tuesday, state officials announced the first phase of Pennsylvania's vaccine plan had been expanded to include residents who are 65 or older and those who have high-risk conditions. Before Tuesday, only healthcare workers and residents and employees of nursing homes and other care facilities had been eligible for the vaccine.
The next day, Bucks County officials complained that the state announcement took them by surprise and said that the county had not received anywhere near the amount of vaccine needed to immunize all of the newly eligible people.
"It is very frustrating that the federal and state governments keep identifying more and more citizens who are priorities for the vaccine without providing the vaccine or even any dates for possible deliveries," said Diane M. Ellis-Marseglia, chairwoman of the Bucks County Board of Commissioners.
"There are clearly supply chain issues that are beyond the control of county governments, but we are being left to explain this to a public that is growing increasingly frustrated. The federal and state governments need to tell the truth to citizens: they do not have anywhere near an adequate supply of vaccines."
On Friday, VIP Pharmacy in Levittown was making it clear to customers that it can't guarantee them a coronavirus vaccine, despite being listed as a provider on the state map. Like Burns Pharmacy, they were asking customers not to call or register in person but, instead, send an email with their age, medical conditions and insurance information.
"We currently cannot guarantee it as we are waiting on a shipment of the vaccine," the pharmacy said.
In Bucks County, 14,628 people had received one dose of the two-shot vaccine, while another 4,650 people had received both doses, according to the state Department of Health.
Bucks County has created an online hub for information on the coronavirus vaccine. The hub contains detailed information on who is eligible to be vaccinated under each of the state plan's four phases.
A form there lets residents register for the vaccine. Once registered, residents will be contacted to schedule a vaccination appointment once sufficient supplies arrive, officials said. Those whose status changed on Tuesday will be shifted from the 1B list to the 1A list and do not need to register a second time, officials said.
Click Here To Register For A COVID-19 Vaccination In Bucks County
This article originally appeared on the Bensalem Patch
