As some of you may be aware, the distribution of the COVID Vaccine from the state department of health has been nothing short of chaotic.
My colleagues and I, as part of the Direct Care Physicians of Pittsburgh, along with Pitt medical students, and the Allegheny County Medical Society, have successfully and judiciously been vaccinating the public from the moment the state started getting vaccine. Several local, small pharmacies have been doing the same thing for our community, including Hilltop Pharmacy, Spartan Pharmacy, Wilson’s Pharmacy, to name a few.
Now, since we are not one of the “big players” in this city ($$) we are being denied any more first doses of vaccine. Instead, the state is choosing to allocate it to the big healthcare institutions and retail pharmacies, in yet another display of being completely out of touch with what is actually working in the community.
There is a large population of people who don’t have ready access to internet, cannot leave their homes, or have severe distrust of receiving this vaccine. I find it highly unlikely that moving vaccine supply only to large, intimidating institutions with phone trees and bureaucratic influence will help get vaccine in these most vulnerable arms.