St. Clair Hospital given zero COVID-19 vaccine first doses for weeks, leaders frustrated
ALLEGHENY CO., Pa. — For the third week in a row, St. Clair Hospital says it hasn’t been allocated any supply of the Pfizer vaccine for first dose appointments.
Because of that, thousands of people were put on hold — forced to wait even longer to get the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
“It’s profoundly disappointing to those who thought they were right on the cusp of being vaccinated,” said Dr. John Sullivan, senior vice president and chief medical officer at St. Clair. “We canceled several hundred last week, and we canceled all of the first dose appointments this week — and we canceled several senior living facilities.”
That includes the Twin Towers Apartments in Mt. Lebanon and the Dormont Place Apartments — for senior citizens.
Sullivan told Channel 11 5,000 South Hills residents are still in the que, waiting to even schedule a vaccine appointment. And for those who need a second dose, it will depend on shipments over the next few weeks.
St. Clair Hospital is trying to keep residents in the loop as much as possible. They sent out an alert on Twitter and Facebook, telling people to keep checking the hospital’s social media and website for updates.
Sullivan said he would like to see a change to avoid this problem from happening again, along with chief medical officers from many other hospitals in the area.
“The ideal state is going to be when we receive communication three weeks in advance how much we can supply and can book patients with confidence,” he said. “That is the Pa. Department of Health’s plan going forward, just not quite there yet. I think we are on the cusp.”