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The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) provides guidance in 2020-PAHAN-541 for responding to signs and symptoms following COVID-19 vaccination in health-care personnel (HCP). Strategies are needed for health-care facilities to appropriately evaluate and manage post-vaccination signs and symptoms among health-care personnel (HCP) in order to minimize staffing disruptions and the transmission of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

Key points in the advisory include:

  1. Signs and symptoms – such as fever, fatigue, headache, chills, myalgia, and arthralgia – can typically occur following COVID-19 vaccination. They usually occur within the first three days of vaccination.
  2. Presence of signs and symptoms consistent with SARS-CoV-2 infection that are not typical for post-vaccination signs and symptoms (i.e. cough, shortness of breath, rhinorrhea, sore throat, loss of taste or smell) should not be attributed to the COVID-19 vaccine.
  3. Positive viral (nucleic acid or antigen) tests for SARS-CoV-2, if performed, should not be attributed to the COVID-19 vaccine since vaccination does not influence the results of these tests.

A figure is provided to outline the steps health-care facilities should take in response to HCP who develop symptoms within the three days following vaccination for COVID-19. If you have questions about this guidance, please contact DOH at 1-877-PA-HEALTH (1- 877-724-3258) or your local health department.

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Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Good afternoon Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) Stakeholders,

I hope this message finds you and your loved ones well during this unique holiday season. I wanted to take the opportunity to address a much anticipated and historic aspect of supporting Pennsylvanians through the pandemic – the long-awaited arrival of the first COVID-19 vaccines.

As I am sure you are aware, the commonwealth received its first allotment of COVID-19 from Pfizer on Monday of this week. As detailed in the Department of Health’s interim vaccine distribution plan, the first priority group to be vaccinated is our Pennsylvania hospital workers who are directly caring for COVID-19 patients. As more vaccine doses become available, the Department of Health will continue to ensure that they arrive at the designated enrolled hospital and health-care systems throughout the commonwealth or the established vaccine distribution partners. These sites will then administer vaccinations to the groups identified in the current distribution plan.

I want to take a moment to reiterate two very important aspects of the vaccine distribution:

  1. At this time, there is a very limited supply to meet the demand of Pennsylvanians who are currently eligible for the vaccine. However, myself and the entire Wolf Administration want to assure each of you, your staff and coworkers, and your loved ones that all Pennsylvanians who would like to be vaccinated will have access to the vaccine. This is simply the first step in a vaccination process that will take months to complete.
  2. If you have taken the time to review the plan, you will see that there are still many details that need to be finalized and subgroups who need to be identified. The Department of Health has stated that the interim plan is very much a working document, and it will continue to be updated as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices identifies further priority populations. At this time, drug and alcohol treatment providers are referenced in the plan as eligible for vaccinations during phase 1b. It is also important to recognize that the “vaccination phases” will happen at their own pace throughout the commonwealth. For example, if vaccine distributors in the western part of the commonwealth vaccinate Pennsylvanians more quickly than those in the central area, then they will move through priority populations and “phases” more rapidly.

At this time, vaccination distribution planning remains very fluid due to key aspects of planning and preparation that are still outstanding. These aspects include the amount of vaccine dosages available to Pennsylvanians, which vaccine will be available, and which private/public partners have the storage capabilities and sheer manpower to host a vaccine distribution site.

I write today to express the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs’s commitment to each of you. We pledge to be transparent throughout the vaccine planning process when answering questions that include but are not limited to:

  • When treatment providers will be eligible for vaccinations;
  • How providers will receive notifications of vaccine availability; and
  • Where individuals need to be present in order to access their vaccination.

We are working closely with the Department of Health to provide information to you as quickly as possible, but I ask for your continued patience as the logistics are developed and finalized.

For the most up-to-date information on Pennsylvania’s vaccine distribution, I encourage each of you to regularly visit the Department of Health’s COVID-19 vaccine portion of their website as well as their news section, which provides updates on how many vaccine doses have arrived and where the vaccine has been received in Pennsylvania. Feel free to utilize the COVID-19 vaccine toolkit, which provides vaccine development background, facts, and graphics for your facilities and social media channels.

Thank you for your continued patience as more information becomes available and for your continued partnership in ensuring that all members of Pennsylvania’s drug and alcohol system remain safe.

Be well,

Jen Smith

DDAP Secretary

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Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Good afternoon,

As you are likely aware, last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency authorization for the first COVID-19 vaccine. Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved its use. The below message went out from the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) earlier today; it details Pennsylvania’s current COVID-19 vaccination plan and a request for feedback.

“In recent weeks, the Department of Health has significantly ramped up efforts to prepare for a safe and efficacious vaccine rollout for Pennsylvania. During this preparation, DOH has assembled the Pennsylvania COVID-19 Interim Vaccination Plan. Please note that this is an iterative plan that will be ever evolving as we continue to learn more through our channels of partnership with the federal government. This interim plan is provided as guidance for distribution and administration of the COVID-19 vaccine throughout 66 of the 67 counties in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; it is provided by DOH and its public and private partners. Philadelphia County will receive independent federal funding and is establishing its own COVID-19 vaccination administration plan; however, the department will continue to communicate and cooperate with the public health officials of Philadelphia. The goal of this interim COVID-19 vaccination plan is to provide a transparent strategy to vaccinate all Pennsylvanians who want to be vaccinated so that they can return to everyday activities as quickly and safely as possible.

“Feedback is welcomed and essential throughout our continued administration-wide coordination and collaboration to drive a successful vaccine rollout. The administration is working to create a process and defined space where all stakeholders can send their comments and concerns.

“COVID-19 has changed the way Pennsylvanians connect and support one another. This virus does not discriminate, and what this virus has shown is how interconnected we all are. You all play significant roles in keeping Pennsylvanians safe and healthy. Our vision at the Pennsylvania Department of Health is a healthy Pennsylvania for all, and we remain laser-focused on this goal.”

The Department of Human Services (DHS) would like to be sure that you are aware of this interim plan and that you are able to provide feedback relevant to your work and the people you serve. As mentioned in DOH’s message, the administration is developing a process and centralized location for receiving ongoing stakeholder feedback. When that becomes available, we will share it, but for now, we want you to have the current plan so that you can review it. Additional updates and information will be shared as they become available.

We have reached an important milestone in our fight against COVID-19. The availability of a vaccine and the start of this process will require continued collaboration and partnership, but I am confident that this is a process through which we will navigate and succeed together. While I have hope, we must also remember that we are experiencing an incredibly difficult surge in Pennsylvania, and, as a nation, we are approaching 300,000 deaths. The vaccine will be a critical defense for our most vulnerable, our frontline workers, and, eventually, the general public. For now, we must continue to closely follow mitigation guidelines on masking, distancing, and limiting trips and contact outside the home.

Thank you for all you do. We look forward to working with you as we move forward in this critically important process.

Teresa Miller, Secretary of the Department of Human Services

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