Here’s why Gov. Tom Wolf, Penn State officials implored the public to get the COVID-19 vaccine
Concerned by some Pennsylvanians’ hesitancy to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Tom Wolf and other officials implored residents Friday morning to measure the risks and make an appointment as soon as possible.
Standing outside a Hershey vaccine clinic hosted by Penn State Health, Wolf said the vaccine supply finally appears to exceed the demand in many areas — which is both good and bad. On one hand, with all Pennsylvanians 16 and older eligible for the vaccine this past Tuesday, most of the public intent on getting vaccinated has been able to make appointments. On the other, with unfilled appointment times even at the Penn State clinic, that means the commonwealth isn’t moving as quickly toward immunity as it could be.
“The more people who get vaccinated, the safer all of us are going to be and the sooner we can get out of this,” Wolf said during an outdoor news conference, where several state and Penn State officials also spoke. “COVID-19 has been a problem for all of us over the past year — 13 months — but now we have a way to fight back, and these vaccines are the way we can fight back and actually move on to the life we’d like it to be.”
It’s unknown at this early point whether hesitancy has increased with the federal recommendation of pausing administration of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is on hold until at least next week after concerns surrounding blood clots. Six individuals reported the clots out of nearly 7 million doses.
Both a Penn State physician and the state’s Acting Secretary of Health took the dais after Wolf and attempted to put the pause into perspective. The temporary suspension came out of an abundance of caution, they said, and blood clots are much more likely to come from COVID-19 than from the COVID-19 vaccine. (A recent study showed blood clots in the brain are 8-10 times more likely to come from the disease than the vaccine.)
“What people are reading and hearing may cause them some hesitation to get a vaccine, and I want to ensure you that vaccines are safe,” said Dr. William Curry, a Penn State-Hershey physician. “At this time, we do not know for certain that those blood clots were caused by the vaccine. But the FDA and the CDC recommending a pause and distribution is a reassurance that the safety of Americans is being considered very seriously.”
According to data aggregated Thursday by the New York Times, Pennsylvania ranks 10th nationally with 41% of the population receiving at least one shot and 25th nationally with 24% fully vaccinated. Some experts believe between 70% and 90% of the population need to acquire resistance to achieve herd immunity.
Despite the pause to Johnson & Johnson, Wolf said he doesn’t anticipate a notable decrease in supply for the general public, as teachers and other targeted populations already received the shot. But for others — such as corrections officers, those incarcerated and agricultural workers — vaccine rollouts have slowed.
If administration of the one-dose vaccine does not resume next week, commonwealth officials said they plan to pivot. At this early point, however, they did not share how.
At a local clinic at the Bryce Jordan Center, the issue was swiftly corrected this past week. Johnson & Johnson doses were simply replaced with Moderna doses.
“We have a steady supply of vaccine in the commonwealth,” added Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam.
To date, there have been nearly 1.1 million positive COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania and 6.8 million vaccinations. In Centre County, there have been 15,591 COVID-19 cases while 96,352 total vaccinations have been administered.
Those interested in getting vaccinated who have not yet done so can visit the state Department of Health website to find participating locations. A full list can also be found elsewhere on centredaily.com, and appointments can also be found on vaccinespotter.org.
“With every dose of vaccine we put into arms, the entire commonwealth gets a little bit closer to that new normal,” said Wolf, who plans to get his first dose Monday. “And that’s really important.”
This story was originally published April 16, 2021 at 1:45 PM.
