Pittsburgh Allegheny County Reports 394 New COVID Cases; Limited Vaccination Appointments Available Through 2-1-1 Tuesday

Pittsburgh PA

16 February, 2021

4:01 PM

Description

By PublicSource reporters, Public Source 2021-02-15 The Allegheny County Health Department reported 394 new COVID-19 cases on Monday. The new cases, from positive tests dated Jan 2 to Feb 14, come from individuals ranging in age from 4 months to 94 years with a median age of 39 years.. The new cases, from positive tests dated Jan 2 to Feb 14 , come from individuals ranging in age from 4 months to 94 years with a median age of 39 years.. There were no new deaths reported. To date, the Allegheny County Health Department has reported 73,399 cases, 1,583 deaths from the virus and 4,675 past and present hospitalizations. The county sent out information Monday on a limited number of new appointments at its Monroeville vaccination center, though the appointments filled in minutes. The county said users can check back in case there are cancellations. The Department of Health did not provide a daily COVID-19 data update today, February 15, 2021. The department will provide an update of the most recent data on COVID-19 in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, February 16. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday's data will be included in tomorrow's release. The Department of Health did not provide a daily COVID-19 data update today, February 15, 2021. The department will provide an update of the most recent data on COVID-19 in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, February 16. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday's data will be included in tomorrow's release. Since the start of the pandemic, the state has tallied 892,344 cases and 23,072 deaths. Nursing and personal care home residents and employees represent about 8.7% of the state's cases and about 52% of the state's deaths. Healthcare workers represent about 2.7% of the state's cases. Between mid-December and through Feb.13, at least 2,439,550 vaccine doses have been allocated Pennsylvania with 318,450 of those vaccines having been allocated this week alone. There are 1,167,402 people who have received one dose of the vaccine and 356,108 people who have received both doses of the vaccine. Allegheny County will open its second vaccination site Tuesday in Castle Shannon. Online signups are full, but appointments can be made by phone by calling 2-1-1, beginning at 9 a.m. on Feb. 16. Those appointments will be reserved for individuals without access to a computer or who have trouble navigating the online system. The county advises that the wait time for registration could be up to 20 minutes. Anyone who is not age 65 or older will be turned away. No on-site registration or walkup registration is available. The site is located at the Castle Shannon Fire Department Banquet Hall at 3600 Library Road. The county asks that residents do not call the fire department, as volunteers there cannot schedule appointments. The county sent out information Monday on a limited number of new appointments at its Monroeville vaccination center, though the appointments filled in minutes. The county said users can check back in case there are cancellations. An individual in Allegheny County tested positive for the highly-contagious COVID-19 variant from the United Kingdom. This person does not know how they contracted the virus, according to the Allegheny County Health Department [ACHD]. "This is the first and only case of the variant reported in Allegheny County thus far. I suspected that it's been present in the county for a while," said ACHD Director Dr. Debra Bogen said on Wednesday. "This news reinforces the need for us all to double-down on the efforts we're taking to control the spread of the virus." This news comes as the county continues attempts to improve its roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccines. On Wednesday, ACHD began to visit high-rise buildings to administer vaccines to seniors. ACHD started with residents in Homestead and will continue this effort in other public high-rise communities such as West Mifflin and Turtle Creek. "We started with county Housing Authority buildings because we already have a strong relationship with them, and this is really a pilot program that we will expand to other low-income subsidized senior living facilities as the supply of vaccine allows," Bogen said. ACHD plans to collaborate with other vaccine providers in the county to ensure there is ample supply of the vaccine for the high-rise residents. The health department itself has received only 11% of the vaccines allotted to the entire county, the rest going to providers like hospitals. Bogen described the supply of vaccines as still low. Nonetheless, daily new case counts have been lower than usual recently, running about 200 a day. At any given time over the past two weeks, fewer than 300 people on average have been hospitalized for COVID-19 in Allegheny County, down from an average near 800 at the end of last year, according to the state's online hospital preparedness dashboard. Hospitalizations are also down across the state. On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 2,890 patients hospitalized due to COVID-19, compared to 3,281 a week ago and 3,790 two weeks ago. On the last day of 2020, 5,962 people were hospitalized with COVID-19. Bogen said she is pleased with the decrease in the transmission of the virus in the county but stopped short of celebrating. "I remain cautious," Bogen said. "We've seen how quickly this virus can spread if we drop our guard, especially with these new variants that appear to spread more easily." The Pennsylvania Department of Health [DOH] held a press conference Friday to address concerns and criticism of the state's rollout of vaccination. "We cannot forget that the limiting factor is the supply of vaccines," said Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam. "With that, we are working really closely with our federal counterparts to understand real-time what they see coming down the pike; by way of increased production, new vaccines coming [into] the market, any way that we are going to try to increase that amount coming to Pennsylvania we have been lock step with them and trying to use their numbers and to put into our forecasting." Earlier this week, the state launched a new tool called Your Turn to help better communicate to Pennsylvanians when it is their turn to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Beam said the tool is primarily for those younger than the age of 65 who are unsure of when they are eligible to get the vaccine. "When it is your turn," Beam said, "we will direct you on how to find a vaccine provider. If it is not your turn yet, you will be able to enter contact information to receive updates about vaccine distribution in Pennsylvania and for us to let you know when it is your turn to get vaccinated." This tool will replace the current eligibility quiz on the state website. People can also call 877-PA-HEALTH to speak with a representative and determine their eligibility. COVID task force of legislators The Wolf Administration announced Tuesday that it is establishing a joint task force with members from the General Assembly who can share vaccine information and communicate issues and solutions in a more streamlined process. Gov. Tom Wolf said coordination between the General Assembly and the state is important to better represent community voices and needs. "We have a good working relationship with our legislators, and we know they are the eyes, ears, and voices for Pennsylvanians," Wolf said in the press release. "The feedback they receive from their local communities is extremely important, particularly as the commonwealth continues to improve upon this once-in-a-generation vaccine rollout. Working with leaders from each caucus in the General Assembly, we are creating a task force to ensure collaboration and strengthen communications about the state's vaccine plan." According to the press release, the task force members will represent their caucus's point-of-view in the General Assembly and will work with the Wolf administration to better communicate with the state regarding issues about COVID-19. DOH in a Friday press briefing sought to ensure Pennsylvanians that there is an adequate and continuous supply of vaccines being delivered to counties across the state. Dr. John Kelly, a physician at Penn Medicine, vouched for the effectiveness of the vaccine, urging the eligible residents to obtain their doses as quickly as possible. "Vaccines work," Kelly said during the briefing. "I received my vaccine a couple of weeks ago without having any major difficulties, but it is imperative that once you receive your first dose, you immediately schedule for your second dose to make sure you receive the adequate protection and benefits." Some concerns were raised about how quickly vaccines were being administered and if the essential workers in the next phase of eligible recipients, 1B, would be able to secure a spot on a waiting list. "Our focus at this time is to really get through 1A," said Department of Health Senior Advisor Lindsey Mauldin, "and make sure that our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians are being served. That is our focus at this time." The department expects federal changes in vaccine distribution to increase the vaccination rate in the state, where less than a third of the doses needed to get past Phase 1A have been administered. This article was reported by Annie Siebert, Lauren Davidson, Matt Petras, Punya Bhasin, Danielle Cruz and Dannys Marrero. This article was produced by PublicSource.org, a nonprofit news organization serving the Pittsburgh region. PublicSource tells stories for a better Pittsburgh. Sign up for their free email newsletters at publicsource.org/newsletters.