COVID-19 Vaccine

Less than 42% of the more than 1 million vaccine doses allocated to Pennsylvania have been distributed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President-elect Joe Biden is outlining his COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan in Wilmington, Del. Biden has been critical of the current administration's effort and is seeking to speed up the process. The announcement comes a day after Biden proposed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. Watch his remarks live.

Dr. George Garrow with Primary Health Network says trust will be critical for the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Allegheny County officials are urging local COVID-19 vaccine providers to inoculate frontline health care workers over those further down the state's prioritization list. County health department director Dr. Debra Bogen said providers should contact the county if they can’t find groups of phase 1A workers.

When a UPMC service coordinator received notification this month that it was her turn to get the COVID vaccine, she was surprised. 

The state health department has created a map that lists COVID-19 vaccine providers across Pennsylvania. Providers who currently offer vaccines and those that eventually will as the state’s roll out enters its later stages are included.

Pennsylvania officials announced 5,338 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday, and 7,506 from the previous day. The total number of infections since the start of the pandmeic is now 726,154.

It is likely the new strain of the coronavirus that was first identified in the U.K. is already circulating in Allegheny County, according to the chair of the county’s board of health.

The Allegheny County Health Department announced a second clinic for COVID-19 vaccines Monday. The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Monroeville will serve as a point of distribution in addition to the Health Department’s downtown location.

In Allegheny County and elsewhere, the end of 2020 brings worries that COVID-19 cases will rise due to holiday celebrations, but also hope that a new vaccine will finally curb the pandemic.

The coronavirus vaccine is coming to the Kane Community Living Centers, which have lost a total of 46 residents to COVID-19 this year.

As health care workers and nursing home residents are getting vaccinated against COVID-19, officials are still finalizing the distribution plan for the so-called Phase 1B group. This next phase of vaccine distribution includes first responders, critical workers and those with pre-existing conditions that put them more at risk of severe illness from the coronavirus.

All 14 hospitals in Allegheny County that were slated to receive shipments of the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech have gotten their deliveries--according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

More than 1,200 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to health care workers at 16 Pennsylvania hospitals, the state health secretary said Thursday, while dozens of other hospitals across the state are waiting to receive more than 96,000 doses by the end of the week.

No adverse health effects have been reported in the state among those who have gotten the shot so far, Dr. Rachel Levine said at a news briefing.

“Things are moving smoothly in Pennsylvania,” she said.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy are teaming up to call on Congress to pass another coronavirus stimulus bill.

States faced a deadline on Friday to place orders for the coronavirus vaccine as many reported record infections, hospitalizations and deaths, while hospitals were pushed to the breaking point — with the worst feared yet to come.