By Daniel Carvalho, Staff Writer
As of April 19, Pennsylvania has stated that everyone over the age of 16 is eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination. Alongside this news, both Haverford and Bryn Mawr’s campuses have gone through several vaccination rounds for students, faculty and staff. These new initiatives are long-awaited steps in the right direction to protect the Bi-Co community.
Yet, before President Biden’s announcement that all adults would become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by April 19, the state of Pennsylvania did not seem anywhere close to meeting this timeline. In fact, Pennsylvania remained in the first phase of their vaccination process, 1A, before jumping straight to their final phase on April 19. How come Pennsylvania was so far behind in their vaccine rollout compared to many other states like Texas and Louisiana, who made all adults eligible as early as mid-to-late March?
One of the main causes for Pennsylvania’s poor vaccine distribution process stems from the sign-up system. The state opted to have individuals sign up for vaccines through individual pharmacies or other distributors such as Rite Aid or Walgreens. This system has made the sign-up process inaccessible to many, as its confusing websites, and need to respond to new openings very quickly, requires users to be extremely tech-savvy. This makes signing up for a vaccination almost, if not even, harder than getting first row seats to your favorite artist’s concert. In comparison, other states have decided to utilize a centralized sign-up process through local government. For example, Wisconsin, a state that has administered roughly 90% of its received vaccines, utilized a central sign-up website, making the process to get an appointment simple in comparison to Pennsylvania’s more obscure, individual websites.
Pennsylvania’s sign-up process is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to issues with vaccine distribution. COVID-19 vaccinations appear to have exposed a large socioeconomic gap between White and BIPOC communities. As of February, nearly 550,000 White residents had received at least one dose, compared to only 18,000 and 1,000 Black and Asian residents, respectively. These figures highlight an important aspect about the issues revolving around Pennsylvania’s vaccine distribution program: many distribution centers in predominantly BIPOC neighborhoods are unable to get their hands on vaccines due to a lack of funding. Yet how is the vaccine supposed to keep the state of Pennsylvania safe when many of its financially at-risk communities are unable to receive the doses they need so desperately?
As Pennsylvania slowly attempts to fix the pieces of their broken vaccination system, the CDC has granted the state $14 million to assist in their vaccine rollout. The CDC has also required that 75% of the funding be directed towards initiatives to expand vaccine accessibility between racial and ethnic minority communities. The Center for Disease Control’s funding and requirements provide some long-awaited structure to help not only vaccinate more people but also make the vaccination rollout equitable.
Due to a confusing vaccine rollout process, a broken sign-up system and BIPOC communities receiving far fewer doses then their white counterparts, Pennsylvania has made the process of getting shots in arms harder than it should be for many. Despite these setbacks, new funding from the CDC along with anyone over the age of 16 being eligible for a vaccine creates hope for the state moving forward.
Image credit: WITF
