COVID-19 Vaccine In Pittsburgh: Small, Private Doctors Say Current State Vaccine Distribution System Causes Mass Confusion
NORTH SIDE (KDKA) -- More than 300 people were getting their first or second dose of the Moderna vaccine Sunday morning.
It was part of the effort of the Allegheny County Medical Society and Director Care Physicians of Pittsburgh. They were vaccinating anyone that is part of Phase 1A.
Doctors running the clinic said the vaccine rollout has become confusing because, as one doctor said, she got what felt like a surprise shipment of doses this week.
"So we've been happily scrambling to allocate all of those," Dr. Kirsten of Family Matters Direct Primary Care said.
Dr. Lin said in addition to the 300 shots for Sunday's delayed clinic, she got another 300 doses. She and other doctors called patients they had previously postponed or canceled appointments for.
"This causes a lot of confusion with patients and causes a lot of second dose insecurity for patients too," she said at Sunday's clinic.
As for other small facilities, they want to know if they are part of the state's vaccination plan or not. They are getting bombarded with patients wanting shots.
"Stop sending us order requests if we aren't going to get anything. Just let us know. It makes it so much easier," Dr. Kyle McCormick with Blueberry Pharmacy in West View said.
Dr. McCormick said he has a waitlist of about 18,000 people for the vaccine, and he gets hundreds of inquiries a day about appointments, all in addition to running to day-to-day operations of the pharmacy.
"Answering questions about the state that I don't even know the answers too. It's just hard," he said while volunteering at Sunday's clinic.
With the FDA approval of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, doctors hope this can help their efforts. They will not have to go through the hassle of second doses since this vaccine is one shot.
"With one shot that's less planning going forward," Dr. Natalie Gentile of Gentile Family Direct Primary Care said.
"We can continue to get the vaccine to the smaller facilities and better serve the community that way," Dr. Lin said.
As for future clinics like Sunday's, doctors said that is at the mercy of the state.
