HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania officials gave an update Tuesday afternoon on vaccine distribution.
Gov. Tom Wolf spoke, along with new acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam, interim acting Physician General Dr. Wendy Braund and PEMA Director Randy Padfield.
Pennsylvania has vaccinated 605,633 people, including 473,449 people who have received their first dose and 132,184 who have received two doses and are considered fully vaccinated, according to the Department of Health.
The vaccination process is being held up, however, because the federal government hasn't sent the expected amount of the vaccine, officials said..
Gov. Wolf defended the state's decision not to have a centralized vaccination registration system, as other states like New Jersey and Ohio have. The governor said the 1,000-plus local providers administering the vaccine are more efficient at distributing it to individual patients.
"They’re localized, they should their customers, the people they’re serving better than one centralized registration place," Gov. Wolf said. "But again, if we get evidence that there’s some alternative to this decentralized system we have in place that could be better and more efficient, we’re certainly very willing, more than willing to consider that."
Many Pennsylvanians in Phase 1A, from health care workers to seniors, have reported difficulty in signing up for a vaccine appointment.
Officials continued to ask for patience until the state receives more vaccine doses from the federal government.