PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia is getting more COVID-19 vaccine doses each week. The supply has grown so much, in fact, that health officials have a new problem.
Working around the clock last weekend, the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium administered almost 5,000 shots. With dozens of branches in Philadelphia, Rite Aid administered approximately 9,000.
Such efforts helped the city give more than 40,000 vaccine doses over last week. So far, near 200,000 people have gotten their first doses, and almost 100,000 have received second doses.
But with more than 1.2 million adults in Philadelphia and demand still strong, Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said limited supply is no longer the chief obstacle in getting Philadelphians vaccinated. Now it's the capacity to give shots.
He said there are a wide range of places to get the vaccine now — hospitals, pharmacies, health centers and mass clinics — and more are being added. However, there's a lag.
"We do have some limits on how quickly the vaccine providers can set up clinics and get staff trained, and do all the work around this, so it still takes time to get up to scale," said Farley.
200,000 people have registered on the city's website, he reported, and they're being offered appointments if they're eligible — that is, if they're over 75 or have certain health conditions or occupations, with priority given to people from zip codes that are under-vaccinated.
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But the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium is trying a new approach. Dr. Ala Stanford says the group has halted its online sign-up and will do only walk-up clinics, first come, first served.
"We have a certain number of doses allocated to us each day and when we get to that number we will stop the line," she said.
Stanford said last weekend's 24-hour clinic at the Liacouras Center was a learning experience and no more are planned. Even the second doses will be given over two days.
Farley said at the current pace, residents at highest risk should be vaccinated by the end of May. After that, vaccination will be open to anyone. Meanwhile, he continued to urge eligible people to sign up on the city's website or to call 311. That's how they're offering appointments at both city clinics and the FEMA clinics which begin Wednesday.
The commissioner said it's a national problem that people are sharing appointment links with others who may not be in a priority group, and the city is working on a solution.