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Motion of the Council of Allegheny County expressing the sense of Council regarding the establishment of a statewide registration system to coordinate administration of COVID-19 vaccine doses within the Commonwealth.
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WHEREAS, as of February 18, 2021, data published by the Centers for Disease Control indicate that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has received a total of 2,731,050 doses of the available COVID-19 vaccines; and
WHEREAS, also as of February 18, 2021, CDC data indicates that the Commonwealth has delivered only 2,002,786 - or 73.3% - of these doses to individuals; and
WHEREAS, this rate of vaccine dose delivery is lower than the national average vaccination delivery rate of 78.7% reported by the CDC; and
WHEREAS, increasing the Commonwealth’s delivery of the doses already available to only the national average would result in approximately 146,000 additional vaccine deliveries within the Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, also as of February 18, 2021, the CDC reports that the Commonwealth’s per capita vaccination rate is 15,644 per 100,000 residents (a rate of 15.7%); and
WHEREAS, the Commonwealth’s per capita vaccination rate is thus lower than those of surrounding states such as New York (16.7%), New Jersey (17.3%), Delaware (16.4%), West Virginia (22.5%) and Ohio (15.9%), and drastically lower than that of the most efficient state, Alaska (27.2%); and
WHEREAS, while these percentage differences may appear small, for Pennsylvania, each increased percentage point of vaccine delivery per 100,000 residents corresponds to approximately 128,000 additional individuals vaccinated throughout the Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, each day that the Commonwealth continues to underperform in terms of vaccine delivery represents the unnecessary exposure of more Pennsylvanians than necessary to the risk of the serious deleterious consequences of COVID-19 infection; and
WHEREAS, within Allegheny County, the Homewood Clinic recently utilized a pre-registration system to expedite the scheduling and administration of approximately 1,000 COVID-19 vaccinations, and in the process also found that patients’ understanding of the process was greatly improved insofar as they were called for scheduling based on their eligibility, rather than having to parse the vaccine guidelines and arrange scheduling on their own; and
WHEREAS, while the Commonwealth’s Department of Health has recently indicated that significant issues relating to vaccine supply will limit the potential benefits of coordinating the delivery of vaccines at the state level, it is the judgment of Council that the Commonwealth owes its residents no less than every effort at mitigating their potential risks from this serious illness; and
WHEREAS, it is further the judgment of Council that a statewide registration program could not do any harm to the efficiency with which the vaccine is delivered within the Commonwealth;
The Council of the County of Allegheny therefore hereby moves as follows:
Allegheny County Council hereby urges the Pennsylvania Department of Health to establish a statewide registration system to coordinate administration of COVID-19 vaccine doses within the Commonwealth with all deliberate speed.