When Pennsylvania expanded the list of people who are eligible to receive the vaccine in the first phase of distribution, Crystal Ondrako was one of many people who felt relieved and started calling to book an appointment right away. She's trying to get the shot for her 65-year-old mom, who has a lung disease called COPD.
"We got our hopes up thinking, 'Oh, good, we can get her in, get her a shot.' Nothing. I've tried everything, and I can't get her in," Ondrako said.
Tammy Saltzman, 61, of Tremont, who is immune-comprised and has COPD, is having the same problem.
"I've been trying to get on several lists, and I'm told there are 300 to 600 people ahead of me."
Joan Gallo, 71, from Peckville, is on a few waiting lists, but some providers have told her that even their waiting list is tapped out.
"They can't take any more names, and I've been calling these places since the beginning. I didn't just start today. Middle of January, when they first came out and said 65 and older, that's when I started calling."
Part of the problem is that the map on the state's website showing where vaccines are available doesn't seem to be accurate.
"They are not up to date at all. My local drug store they have a green dot, and I called, and they said there's 300 people ahead of me," Saltzman said.
"A lot of people don't have computers. There's older people that don't even have cell phones," Gallo said.
Governor Wolf responded to a question about the map inaccuracy during a briefing today, saying, "They're relying on their phone systems and their own websites. Some of them are great, some of them are not up to the challenge of the huge influx of calls they are getting. We have a lot of work to do, we want to do a much better job than we're doing, and we want to improve this process."
The Department of Health says it expanded the number of people eligible in the first phase because it was following guidelines from the federal government.
We reached out to the department to ask what advice it has for folks who can't book an appointment. A spokesperson said, "We know that there is significant interest among all Pennsylvanians about when they will get vaccinated. The Pennsylvania Department of Health is working to ensure that everyone who wants a COVID-19 vaccine can get it. We must have patience as the amount of vaccine available to Pennsylvanians — and every state — is currently extremely limited, but there will be more vaccine in the future. As of yesterday, local vaccine providers have administered more than 737,000 vaccines across the state."
The spokesperson continued, "Keep in mind that this is a global issue, and manufacturers are working to produce enough vaccine for the world’s population. Right now, more than 4 million Pennsylvanians are eligible for the vaccine. They will each need two doses (8 million doses), but Pennsylvania has only received 1.5 million doses. In the coming months, there will be enough vaccine for every Pennsylvania who wants it."
In a town hall last week, health officials said they've been told that the number of vaccine doses Pennsylvania receives each week will not go down, but it likely won't go up for a while.
We've been hearing from a lot of people who are upset that teachers in certain school districts have gotten vaccinated ahead of senior citizens and high-risk patients.
Both Abington Heights and Mid-Valley school districts confirmed to Newswatch 16 that their teachers were vaccinated. The superintendents tell us that local pharmacies reached out to the districts when they had leftover doses of the vaccine that they didn't want to go to waste; this was prior to Pennsylvania expanding the number of people eligible in Phase 1A. The CEO of Geisinger confirmed its hospitals had been doing this with leftover doses as well - giving them out to those in Phase 1B so as not to waste the shots.
Mid-Valley superintendent Patrick Sheehan says he assumes he never would have received the phone call from the pharmacy had it been this week, now that Phase 1A has been expanded and doses are in short supply.
Lakeland School District was also contacted by a pharmacy prior to the expansion of Phase 1A, and a vaccine clinic for teachers was scheduled for today. That clinic was canceled, now that demand is far outpacing supply.