Westmoreland officials press state to improve vaccine distribution

Westmoreland elected officials on Monday said they remain concerned over a lack of response to calls to improve the state’s vaccine distribution effort and to correct a shortage of doses allocated to the county.

During a news conference conducted after county commissioners met privately for about 90 minutes with members of the Westmoreland’s state legislative delegation, officials said they were “frustrated” and again demanded an increase of vaccine doses for county residents.

“Pennsylvania is behind the ball. There is no doubt about that,” said state Rep. Ryan Warner, R-Perryopolis. “Bottom line, Pennsylvania’s vaccine rollout has been unacceptable. Lack of a central database has caused the second-dose-first debacle that has delayed vaccines for those who need it for weeks. It has caused confusion among the residents in this commonwealth.”

Commissioners late last month said a review of state data revealed Westmoreland County ranked near the bottom of all Pennsylvania counties in terms of the percentage of residents who have received at least one vaccine dose, and was dead last among counties of similar size.

According to state data released Monday, about 10% of Westmoreland County’s 348,000 residents have received a vaccine dose.

State Rep. Eric Nelson, R-Hempfield, is troubled over the state’s allocation of doses and suggested Pennsylvania health officials haven’t followed the department’s own criteria in doling out vaccines.

Nelson said the state bases vaccine allocations on county population, the number of residents who are 65 and older and the number of coronavirus infections and deaths.

“Westmoreland is 12th in deaths, 11th in total cases, 11th in total population and 9th in 65 and older. But, we find ourselves ranked as 55th or 57th depending on how you do the math (among Pennsylvania counties),” Nelson said.

State health officials late last month conceded Westmoreland County’s vaccine allocation is lagging. State Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, said she still is waiting for answers from the state as to when Westmoreland County will receive additional vaccine doses.

Commissioners met behind closed doors with Ward, Nelson, Warner, state Rep. Jason Silvis, R-Derry, and Sen. Pat Stefano, R-Connellsville, as well as staffers for Reps. Bob Brooks, R-Murrysville, Eric Davanzo, R-South Huntingdon, and George Dunbar, R-Penn Township, and state Sens. Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, and Carrie Lewis DelRosso, R-Oakmont.

Warner, Nelson and commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew, in public statements following the meeting, called for the state to create a registry of residents who want to receive the vaccine. Efforts to create a countywide registry were placed on hold last month after commissioners were unable to find a private entity such as Excela Health to assist with such a plan. Commissioners said the state has advised against working alone to craft a registry.

“The state is the one that would ease the frustration. It would make life a lot easier if the state will step up and create its own centralized database system,” Kertes said.

As of Monday, the state reported that 35,804 people in Westmoreland County received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine and 24,934 residents have been fully vaccinated.

Still, residents continue to struggle to find available vaccine doses.

“The most important thing is for them to realize that every day, every week, more and more citizens are getting vaccinated. The path is slower than we’d like, but it is moving forward,” Nelson said. “People are getting through, so they need to remain vigilant, remain calm and keep the pressure on us as public officials and the department of health to actually deliver the expectations that they said they were going to provide.”