Some Erie health systems wait for COVID-19 vaccine as cases, hospitalizations rise

Rolling out the newest COVID-19 vaccine has not gone as smoothly as planned in Erie County, as the numbers of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have increased in recent weeks.

Only one of the three local health systems had received its initial shipment of vaccines as of Friday, while some chain pharmacies — but not all — are giving COVID-19 shots.

"We expected to get our first shipment of vaccine the week of Sept. 25 but there have been issues in receiving the vaccine at this point," said Jason Chenault, UPMC Hamot's director of emergency, hospitalist and critical care services.

LECOM Health, which operates Erie County's largest walk-in vaccination clinic, also hadn't yet received its initial shipment of COVID-19 vaccine. AHN Saint Vincent is the only health system to have received the newest COVID-19 vaccine and has begun vaccinating people at its primary-care offices, a spokeswoman said.

The delays come as the federal government has stopped paying for all of the vaccine and distributing it. Vaccine providers now work either directly with drug manufacturers or through vaccine wholesalers, similar to how flu vaccine is distributed each year.

"I talked with Pfizer and they said there is plenty of vaccine produced, it's a holdup in distribution," said Jim Caputo, LECOM Health's vaccine coordinator. "Now that the distribution is in the commercial sector, it's a whole different situation."

Caputo and Chenault each said it could be 10 days to two weeks before their health systems expect to receive the new COVID-19 vaccine.

More: New COVID-19 vaccine to arrive in Erie within next 10 days. Where can you get a shot?

Erie chain pharmacies have more success getting vaccine

Erie-area chain pharmacies seem to have had better success getting the new vaccine. According to the vaccine locator map on the federal government's Vaccines.gov website, more than 30 local pharmacies have new vaccine in stock and are scheduling appointments.

It is advised, however, to call a pharmacy after making an online appointment to confirm they actually have the vaccine on hand.

Since the federal government no longer provides all vaccines for free, it is important to make sure your health insurance covers the shot's cost. The new COVID-19 vaccine costs about $140 per dose, Caputo said.

Some people have had their insurance unexpectedly denied at the time of their vaccination, a Health and Human Services Department spokesperson told USA Today. Medicare, Medicaid and almost all private insurers cover the vaccine's costs.

"From the UPMC Health Plan perspective, they are working diligently to make sure the vaccine's costs are covered for insured people," Chenault said.

Those without health insurance might qualify for no-cost COVID-19 vaccines through the Bridge Access Program. Visit vaccines.gov to find a participating provider.

COVID-19 admissions triple among Erie County residents

As some providers wait for vaccine, the county's number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rose through September.

During the week that ended Sept. 23, 27 Erie County residents were admitted to the hospital, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. It's more than triple the eight residents admitted the previous week.

"We have approximately 10 COVID-19 patients admitted," Saint Vincent spokeswoman Monica Lewis said. "But it is generally the same clinical situations as in previous months; incidental cases discovered when the patient was being admitted for some other reason. There have been very few COVID-related complications, such as pneumonia, which are being very well managed."

No deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported in recent months among county residents. In fact, the Erie County Department of Health's 2023 total has declined since July 2 from 34 deaths to 33, likely due to case information updates, a county health department official said.

More: COVID-19 admissions rise in Erie County as hospitals await new vaccine

Daily case counts have been rising through September, though local health officials caution that many more people are likely to have COVID-19 but never report the disease.

The average daily case total for the week ending Sept. 26 was 19.4, compared to 13.5 the previous week.

"Most cases are still not severe enough to cause severe illness, but I know that many people are becoming miserably ill for 1-2 weeks," Dr. Howard Nadworny, a Saint Vincent infectious diseases specialist and county health department adviser, said in an email. "The vaccine appears to be well-matched to the two main variants currently circulating (EG.5 and FL.1.5.1, which are about 40% of the totals), so vaccination soon will likely help both to reduce the chance of getting infected and reduce the risk of more severe illness even if the person does get COVID."

The amount of coronavirus found in samples taken from the Erie Wastewater Treatment Plant declined Sept. 12. The most recent date results are published on the Pennsylvania Wastewater Surveillance System Dashboard. The Sept. 5 amount was the highest detected since early April.

Nadworny: Advice for anyone with COVID, flu, RSV or croup

Nadworny also offered advice for anyone with a respiratory infection, no matter the cause.

"Since we are likely to see many more respiratory infections in the next 4-5 months, whether Covid or RSV or influenza or croup, having people who have respiratory symptoms, however mild, wear masks if they have to go to work or school will protect all of the other people in the office or class from also getting sick," Nadworny said.

"This would be a very simple approach which could greatly reduce absenteeism at work or in schools, and it would help even without knowing the diagnosis (which I suspect most infected people don't want to know)," Nadworny added.

Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ETNBruce.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie hospitals still waiting for COVID-19 vaccine as cases rise