COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH

March 16, 2021

Dear County Leadership,
Thank you for your recent correspondences regarding the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Pennsylvania.
As communicated in our meeting on March 7, we are dedicated to the continuous improvement of our
COVID-19 vaccine strategy. Since transitioning into leadership seven weeks ago, we have steadfastly
invested our efforts to refining the vaccine rollout. Within two days of assuming leadership, we
implemented controls on the allocation process to ensure Commonwealth-wide coverage of vaccine
deliveries. We focused our vaccine provider network to allow for increased accountability and
predictability, which was further bolstered by issuing an Order to increase the urgency of shots into arms.
We undertook a rigorous review of data reporting to investigate providers that failed to report vaccine
administration. We took swift, decisive action when this work revealed an issue with second doses of
Moderna to prevent a statewide, chaotic frenzy of second dose insecurity. And all of these efforts have
been undertaken while maintaining transparency with our process. Pennsylvanians should expect
transparency with the distribution of a life-saving commodity and as such, every delivery of vaccine in
Pennsylvania is detailed and posted online.
Specific to your constituents, the reality is that shots are getting into the arms of Pennsylvanians in
significant numbers in the southeast: health care workers, nursing home residents, seniors, vulnerable
individuals and teachers in southeast counties are being vaccinated at a rate at or above the state average
of 17% of individuals fully vaccinated. Specifically, Bucks and Chester County are both at the statewide
average of 17%, Delaware County is slightly higher at 18%, and Montgomery County stands at 22%.
Monitoring the statewide administration data is critical to understanding which vaccine providers may
need more assistance from our team with getting vaccine into arms. The vaccine strategy is built upon a
partnership with health care providers, not counties, to ensure Pennsylvanians have access to vaccines.
To be clear, the Commonwealth does not allocate vaccine to a county – we allocate it to providers within
a county that deliver care regionally.
It is inarguable that health care delivery, including obtaining a vaccine, is not restricted to county borders
and vaccine allocation is not defined by county lines. This is best evidenced by health care providers
serving individuals from many counties with vaccine that is ordered to a centralized location, our
investment of vaccine into a network of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) that serve
vulnerable Pennsylvanians in a multi-county footprint, and regional vaccination sites that receive a bulk
allocation to vaccinate Pennsylvanians from multiple counties.
Regarding your three most recent requests:
1) Create a publicly available chart showing the amount of vaccine from all sources, including
Federal partnerships, that has been delivered to each county each month; a description of the
“County Index” that PA Department of Health is currently using to allocate doses to each
county; how the Index has been applied to each County since the Index came into use in late
January.
 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH

Vaccine Data
The Department of Health has been transparent with all vaccine within our control. From day-one of the
vaccine rollout, we have provided detailed delivery information for every dose within our control on one,
consolidated website. The data is available here: Vaccine Allocation Data
For vaccine doses controlled by the state allocation to health care providers, we display the vaccine
provider name, address, amount of vaccine received and delivery date. By the end of the week, we will
further enhance our transparency by posting our allocation data on the Commonwealth’s OpenData portal
to provide additional detail regarding first and second dose allocations by product. We will continue to
post the delivery data on our website as we always have to the extent that is helpful.
Even when vaccine comes to Pennsylvania providers directly from the federal government, we have
worked to track down this information and share it with you and your constituents as quickly as possible.
Currently, our website contains weekly distribution data for the Retail Pharmacy Program partners (Rite
Aid, Topco, CVS and Walmart). We are also working to post allocation data for FQHCs which receive
vaccine directly from the federal government for further transparency. We will be transitioning all of this
data onto OpenData over the next week to again make it easier for all Pennsylvanians to access.
From the outset of the vaccine rollout, we dedicated a significant amount of Pennsylvania’s vaccine
supply to our long-term care facility mission (referred to as the Federal Pharmacy Partnership), and we
shared the information that we received regarding the facilities that received vaccine through this program
from the start. We are not stopping there: we are working with our Federal Pharmacy Partners (CVS and
Walgreens) to obtain additional information regarding the number of doses and locations by county where
our partners are vaccinating people in long-term care facilities. Like all other sources of information, we
will share that on OpenData as soon as we receive it. As a reminder, the Federal Pharmacy Partnership is
just that – a federal program – that the Commonwealth has a limited span of control over. We do not
have contracts with these partners to implement this program, and, as such, rely on partnership to obtain
this data. In some instances, we have received this data slower than we wish, and we would welcome
your partnership in advocating to the federal government for the same kind of heightened transparency
with this program that the Commonwealth is using with our state allocation process.
COVID County Index
As discussed publicly in legislative hearings, General Assembly briefings and stakeholder meetings since
the beginning of February, we implemented a two-step process for allocating vaccine when vaccine
provider orders exceeded Pennsylvania’s weekly allocation from the federal government.
First, in an effort to ensure the vaccine reached all corners of the Commonwealth that we are responsible
for distributing vaccine to, we created a measurement based on population, risk posed by the population
over 65 years old, and COVID impact to-date to assist in determining the allocation amount. Second, the
health care providers within a county communicate the volume of vaccine they are prepared to handle and
which type of vaccine they can receive (recognizing logistical constraints posed by certain brands of the
vaccine). The process is outlined on our website, and communicated visually below.
 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH

To be clear, the Department will not allocate

vaccine that exceeds a providers’ request, or
to a provider that does not ask for it. That
could result in us giving vaccine to a
provider that cannot handle it or move it fast
enough, resulting in waste. We believe we
can all agree that the Department should not
knowingly allocate vaccine in a manner in
which it could be wasted. Our process takes
multiple variables into account to produce an
equitable and responsible allocation.
In addition to displaying timely, accurate
vaccination administration data in the
county-by-county dashboard on our website,
we will begin to post data in our OpenData
portal that already makes it convenient for
county leaders and others to download and
analyze the data in whatever form you wish.

2) Explain how and when counties that

are lagging in vaccine delivery will receive additional vaccine.
In conjunction with the Legislative COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force members, on March 12, Governor
Wolf announced his intention to amplify the vaccination process with the forecasted increase in vaccine
supply by the end of March. The anticipated increase in vaccine supply, specifically the single-dose
Johnson & Johnson vaccine, will enable the Commonwealth to construct regional vaccination sites to
enhance the current vaccine provider network. Our provider network analysis indicates that the southeast
region is prime to secure a regional vaccine site. As such, it is our request that the southeast leadership
find consensus on a centralized location for a regional vaccination site that can handle sustained high
throughput. The Commonwealth, including the Department of Health and the Pennsylvania Emergency
Management Agency, will work closely with your leadership to prepare this site for successfully
vaccinating high-volumes of your constituents immediately upon receiving the increased volumes of
vaccine from the federal government.

3) Explain how vaccine providers will be monitored going forward to ensure that no vaccine
provider moves on to vaccinate 1B individuals (beyond the teachers and educational support
personnel who are directly receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from the State) until all
counties in the Commonwealth have received sufficient vaccine to vaccinate their 1A population.
From the outset, we have been explicit regarding our high expectations for our vaccine provider network.
In addition to the Provider Agreement that all vaccine providers must commit to before receiving vaccine,
 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH

we reiterated our expectations in an Order issued February 12, directing vaccine providers to, among
other things, comply with the Commonwealth’s Phases for vaccinations. We continuously monitor
provider compliance and work closely with all our partners, and just last week, took swift action to
terminate the supply of first doses to a provider in Cumberland County that failed to comply with the
Order. As always, we will ensure delivery of second doses to all providers to ensure complete
vaccinations for Pennsylvanians.
As Governor Wolf and the Legislative COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force announced on March 12, we are
dedicated to ensuring the Phase 1A population is vaccinated as swiftly as possible. We are working
closely with vaccine providers to help ensure that everyone eligible in Phase 1A will have a vaccination
appointment scheduled by the end of March. As part of our dedication to vaccinating the Phase 1A
population, we are closely monitoring vaccine providers and reducing or turning off their supply of first
doses if they fail to follow the Commonwealth’s vaccination Phases and Orders requiring compliance
with the Commonwealth’s Phases.
We invest every effort to benefit the most deserving source of our endeavors: Pennsylvanians. We know
the harrowing toll the pandemic has taken on each of us, and we know the vaccine is a beacon of hope
toward a sense of normalcy. The 3,735,484 doses of vaccine distributed are not simply vials of medicine;
rather, they are protection for our loved ones in nursing homes, our heroic health care workers, our
vulnerable neighbors, and our teachers. We remain disciplined to steering Pennsylvania strategically
through the vaccine rollout on a firm foundation and seek your partnership in the continued rollout. We
recognize that our current issue is the extremely limited vaccine supply across the country. However, as
leaders in your community, we ask that you channel your efforts to working with us to tackle the crisis
that is to come: educating Pennsylvanians about the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, and the
importance of getting vaccinated when it is their turn.

Sincerely,

Alison V. Beam, Acting Secretary

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Cc: Bucks County Legislative Delegation

Chester County Legislative Delegation
Delaware County Legislative Delegation
Montgomery County Legislative Delegation