Allegheny County Officials Frustrated Over Vaccination Progress

PITTSBURGH, PA - Allegheny County Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen on Wednesday acknowledged being frustrated over the slow pace of coronavirus vaccine distribution in the county. But she urged patience as the vaccine supply in the county continues to increase.

“Right now there is a lot of frustration,” she said at a news briefing. “We are frustrated too, but doing everything we can to get the vaccine out as quickly and easily as possible.”

The county received 50,000 doses last week, about double the supply of the previous week. But Bogen reiterated that the county still doesn’t know how much supply it will receive each week, which makes planning vaccination distribution difficult.

Another issue: Demand for the vaccine still far outweighs supply.

On Tuesday, the health department announced it had opened vaccination appointments for health care workers and for individuals 65 years of age and older for February 9-13 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Monroeville. Bogen said the appointments were filled within a half hour of the county announcing them.

Despite the difficulties, more vaccine doses have been administered in Allegheny County than any other county in the state. As of Wednesday afternoon, 49,557 people had received their first doses and 13,434 had gotten their second ones. Two shots are required to be fully inoculated.