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Pennsylvania To Get More Than 100K Vaccine Doses

Gerald Herbert
/
AP
Psychiatry resident Deborah Levy receives the new Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from registered nurse Ayonna Williams at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System Medical Center in New Orleans, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020.

Pennsylvania will receive an initial shipment of more than 110,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, the state Department of Health announced Monday as UPMC began giving the shots to its health workers.

Nearly 90 hospitals across the state will receive an initial 97,500 doses directly from Pfizer, the health department said. Philadelphia is getting its own allotment of 13,650 doses.

The vaccine is going to hospitals that have the ability to store it, with the first shots to be given to health workers, first responders and residents and staff in nursing homes and other congregate settings, the health department said.

The state health secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, issued an order that requires vaccine providers to report demographic information on people who get the shots, including gender, race and ethnicity.

UPMC, which was among the first to get a shipment, said it began administering the shots on Monday.

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