HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Some Pennsylvania doctors are raising concerns against the state’s new plan to get out the vaccines.
The Health Department announced Friday it’s cutting back on the number of vaccine providers and focusing only on larger distributors. They say the new plan will help them get the vaccine out quicker and more efficiently.
Groups of primary care doctors say cutting them of the distribution process will hurt Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable people. The Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians represents thousands of doctors and is one of the groups speaking out against the change.
Dr. Tracey Conti is the group’s president.
“We’re concerned that eliminating primary care, eliminating the physicians that patients have a close relationship to will interfere with getting our Commonwealth vaccinated,” Conti said.
The Health Department responded to concerns in a statement, saying in part, “We must concentrate the vaccine among the providers who can move first doses as quickly as possible to protect Pennsylvanians. “
But Dr. Conti thinks they should focus less on speed and more on those most in need.
“What we don’t want to sacrifice is equity in that efficiency,” Conti said.
She says for communities of color who already don’t trust the healthcare system, this pushes them away from doctors they know.
“In minority communities, they may not have a good relationship with the bigger health systems,” Conti said. “Or if they’re in a pharmacy desert how are we going to get vaccinations to them?”
She also pointed out some rural communities lack access to these larger distributors.
“In rural populations, bigger health systems aren’t there, your bigger pharmacies aren’t there. So how are those folks going to access the vaccine?” Conti said.
Also she says now older Pennsylvanians are forced to navigate large appointment systems.
“They don’t have necessarily the access to be able to sign up electronically to get that,” Conti said.
Many doctors say the plan is ill-fitting for those Pennsylvanians most at risk.
“One size does not fit all. Yes, you do need that mass vaccination, you do need the ability for larger institutions that have those types of setups. But you also need smaller organizations, smaller physician offices that can get into the communities that aren’t served by those larger institutions,” Conti said.
According to the state Health Department, this is only a temporary move and primary care doctors will be put back into the vaccine distribution process once there’s a larger supply. But Dr. Conti argues with the most vulnerable groups of people that time matters, and if this delays their shots, that could be dangerous.
