By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Allegheny Health Network says it is suspending COVID-19 vaccination programming to the general public due to the small amount of supply available.
Wilson’s Pharmacy is one of the few in the state that administers the vaccine to the general public and Dolores Hison is considered lucky.
“I was shocked to come in today and find out I had it,” he said.
But don’t wait. Although the pharmacy now vaccinates members of the general public aged 65 and over, pharmacist Jeff Wilson says he runs out of Modena vaccine supplies almost as soon as the supply arrives through the door.
“Most likely, we’ll be out at the end of the day,” he said.
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It is the same throughout the state and the nation. The distribution network of pharmacies, clinics and hospital systems says they are ready to vaccinate the general public, but supply has shrunk to dwindling.
After vaccinating all of its front-line health workers, outpatients and lifeguards, Allegheny Health Network had vaccinated people aged 75 and over. But on Friday, AHN paused programming until more supply arrived.
“Think of it as a movie theater. When tickets for a theater are sold, no one fits. When you can open another one, you can get more people. Basically, when we get more supply, we’ll open more places, ”said Donald Whiting, AHN’s chief medical officer.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has so far had less than one approval note after distributing less than half of the vaccines the state has received, and the UPMC has made some criticisms for not making its supplies available to the public. the general public until it has vaccinated all its workers.
But Whiting says the biggest problem is the federal government’s lack of supply.
“We are very optimistic that the new Washington administration will be much faster in achieving this,” he said.
UPMC set out its reason for vaccinating all its workers in the following statement:
The vast majority of COVID-19 exposures from UPMC staff that produce infections or quarantine do not occur at UPMC facilities, but have a profound impact on health operations. Vaccination of all UPMC employees is essential to our ability to continue to provide first-class care.
On Friday night, in a statement, the Allegheny County Health Department announced that people aged 65 and over can be vaccinated at the DoubleTree Hotel in Monroeville starting Monday. The county says an appointment is needed and appointments will be “extremely limited.”
The clinic is open Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 19:00 and on Saturday from 8:30 to 17:00
You can sign up for the appointments for the week of January 25 using the following links:
January 25; January 26; January 27; January 28th; January 29; January 30
“The above links connect users to the PrepMod planning system used by ACHD and PA DOH. If a vaccination slot is available for a specific day, the link will be redirected to a page titled “Register for Vaccinations – DoubleTree Monroeville” with the date of the clinic. People will be able to enter their information and select a vaccination time. Selecting a vaccination time is the last step in the registration process. After scheduling an appointment, users will receive a confirmation email at the address provided during registration, ”the department said in a statement.