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About 1,200 Pennsylvania health workers have received covid-19 vaccinations in the past three days as more deliveries continue to arrive in dozens of hospitals statewide, the Secretary of Health, Dr Rachel Levine.
Of the 1,205 vaccinations, no adverse effects were reported, Levine said. Sixteen of the first 87 hospitals selected to receive the first shipments of Pfizer vaccine received these shipments. The remaining 71 hospitals will receive them by the end of Friday.
“Things are going well in Pennsylvania,” Levine said. “Vaccine delivery has not been delayed so far due to snow, and hospitals are working as quickly as possible to administer the vaccine.”
Health workers, residents and staff of long-term care facilities are the priority for the first round of immunizations. Long-term care facilities could start receiving the vaccine on December 28.
In Pittsburgh, the VA Pittsburgh Health Care System received its first vaccine shipment on Wednesday, according to a statement posted on the system’s social media.
“We will deliver the limited supply to those who benefit the most, including veterans most at risk for serious illness and those needed to help care for others, such as our VA health workers,” said officials in the press release.
Later Wednesday, Antonia Bailey at the AV long-term care center in O’Hara received the first dose of the vaccine delivered by the system. Officials noted that staff had vaccinated every eligible veteran living in the nursing home on Wednesday.
Levine approved the Food and Drug Administration’s guidelines for disclosing that certain vials of vaccine contain excess vaccine. Each vial of Pfizer is supposed to contain enough for five doses, but some contain more. The FDA has said that if a vial contains enough for a full sixth dose, then healthcare providers should use that extra dose.
“This is very good information because then we can immunize more people,” she said.
In Allegheny County, UPMC received the region’s first shipment on Monday and five employees from a number of UPMC facilities were vaccinated in a live broadcast event. This first shipment included a tray of 975 doses.
Since Monday, UPMC Presbyterian has received two trays for a total of 1,950 doses, and UPMC Mercy received one on Wednesday. Mon Valley Hospital in Monongahela also received a plateau of 975 doses
It was not immediately clear whether UPMC or AV would follow FDA guidelines for extracting additional doses from vials when possible.
The Allegheny health network and Excela health facilities should receive the shipments before the end of the week.
Levine noted that the emergency use clearance for the Moderna vaccine precipitated FDA panel approval on Thursday, and that shipments of this vaccine – which must be kept cold but not at the required minus -80 degrees Celsius. for the Pfizer vaccine – could start next week.
Both vaccines require two injections to be effective, with Pfizer requiring three weeks in between and Moderna four weeks.
Levine said those in Operation Warp Speed take responsibility for reserving an equal number of doses for the second round of fire. Pennsylvania will have received 97,500 doses of the vaccine by the end of the week.
Megan Guza is a writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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Allegheny | Coronavirus | Health | News | Pennsylvania | Best Stories
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