Covid vaccine will not be a panacea, says Pa. health secretary

Pennsylvania’s top health official said Thursday the state is ready to distribute a covid-19 vaccine in a manner that prioritizes health care workers and vulnerable populations but stressed that a vaccine – whenever one becomes available – will not be a panacea.

There are six drug manufacturers working on covid-19 vaccines, and Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said there is a three-phase plan in place to get residents vaccinated when one or more of those vaccines are deemed ready.

“We do not have a date – we cannot set a specific date on science,” Levine said. “But we are actively preparing to be able to receive, store, distribute and then administer the vaccine in Pennsylvania.”

The distribution and administration will come in three phases, she said. The first phase will include front-line health care workers, including those who work in hospitals and nursing homes, and it could also include those living in long-term care facilities.

The second phase will include other health care workers and other people who are considered particularly vulnerable to the virus. The third phase will include the general public.

Levine noted that the exact prioritization will be based on advice from federal health groups like the Centers for Disease Control, and it will be based on which groups will benefit most from a particular vaccine. One example is if one of the early vaccines will not be very effective for older individuals.

She stressed that there is no timetable for a vaccine and issued a warning to residents: “When the vaccines are available … they’re not going to be a magical cure for coronavirus and will not immediately end the pandemic,” she said.

Levine likened it to the flu vaccine, which protects against the most prevalent strains of the virus and can lessen the symptoms for those who do catch it. She said health officials expect the eventual covid-19 vaccine to be similar.

“It really is not going to change the policies and procedures that we have or they would have until we get enough of the people in the commonwealth vaccinated that there are significant decreases in the community spread,” she said.

She said it will likely take “months and months and months” to work through all the phases of distribution to get vaccines to the “millions and millions” of Pennsylvanians needed to slow rampant community spread.

“Until that time – and I can’t tell you when that will be – we need people to continue all of the safety measures that they’re doing right now,” she said.