Vaccine Rollout Plan
With initial supplies limited, the COVID-19 vaccine will be distributed to Pennsylvanians in four phases.
We're currently in Phase 1A and have begun vaccinating those most at-risk of illness, such as health care workers and Pennsylvanians living in long-term care facilities, persons age 65 and older, and those age 16-64 with high-risk conditions. See a comprehensive list of Pennsylvanians included in each phase here:
Phase 1A is the first vaccine distribution step. The vaccine is currently being distributed to:
- Long-term care facility residents
- Health care personnel including, but not limited to:
- Emergency medical service personnel
- Nurses
- Nursing assistants
- Physicians
- Dentists
- Dental hygienists
- Chiropractors
- Therapists
- Phlebotomists
- Pharmacists
- Technicians
- Pharmacy technicians
- Health professions students and trainees
- Direct support professionals
- Clinical personnel in school settings or correctional facilities
- Contractual HCP not directly employed by the health care facility
- Persons not directly involved in patient care but potentially exposed to infectious material that can transmit disease among or from health care personnel and patients
- Persons ages 65 and older
- Persons ages 16-64 with high-risk conditions:
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney disease
- COPD
- Down Syndrome
- Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
- Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant or from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune weakening medicines
- Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher but < 40 kg/m2)
- Severe Obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2)
- Pregnancy
- Sickle cell disease
- Smoking
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus
All individuals not previously covered who are 16 and older and do not have a contraindication to the vaccine (note that at this time, only the Pfizer-BioNTech product is approved for those age 16 and 17)