The push for help to provide additional covid-19 vaccine doses will continue Monday when Westmoreland County commissioners are scheduled meet with the county’s 11-member state legislative delegation to address future needs.

It will be the first joint meeting of the current three-member board of commissioners with state representatives, senators and their staffs.

It comes at a time when local elected leaders continue to struggle with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as well as make plans for a recovery program. That includes speeding up vaccination of residents, bolstering the local economy and planning for future economic development, financial assistance and other areas of concern.

It’s all part as part of an agenda that, as of late last week, had yet to be finalized.

“We want to have a line of communication open and a strong relationship with them,” said commissioners Chairman Sean Kertes. “I hope to have something like this quarterly or every six months.”

Likely at the top of the list for discussion is an apparent vaccine shortage in Westmoreland County. Commissioners last week pleaded with the Pennsylvania Department of Health to provide additional doses to county hospitals and pharmacies.

Commissioners said an analysis of vaccine data throughout the state revealed Westmoreland ranked near the bottom of the list of counties for doses received per capita. The county is the 11th largest in the state by population but ranked 55 out of 66 counties in terms of doses delivered by population. Philadelphia was not included, as it receives its vaccine doses directly from the federal government.

Commissioner Doug Chew said as of last week Westmoreland received enough doses to give a first round of vaccine shots to just more than 10% of the county’s 348,000 residents. That ranks it ahead of only Juniata, Greene, Potter, Wyoming, Schuylkill, Pike, Monroe, Forest, Northumberland, Clinton and Snyder counties.

State health officials acknowledged the county’s shortfall of vaccine doses but has yet to authorize increases.

Kertes said the commissioners will lobby the state delegation to continue to pressure state health officials for more vaccines for Westmoreland County.

“We want to hear from them, but we also want them to hear from us and how they can help us,” Kertes said.

Turnpike link?

The gab session will focus on more than just vaccines.

Kertes said commissioners also will push for additional funding for mandated programs and support for economic development projects, including continuation of a long-planned Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement project that seeks to link the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.

Final design work is near completion of the first 4.5-mile section of the project that stretches from Mt. Pleasant Borough to Norvelt. Construction is slated to begin late this year and conclude in 2023.

The second phase, including a 3.5-mile road from Norvelt to Unity, and the final phase, about 2.5 miles to the airport, are still in the planning stages with an estimated completion date in 2026.

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