WLVT community update Coronavirus.

It's brought to you with help from our community partner Lehigh Valley Health Network.

We're coming to you live from the PPE Public Media Center in Bethlehem.

I'm Brittany Sweeney.

Our guests today include LVHN leader who recently addressed lawmakers about the state's vaccine plan.

We'll also meet someone who founded a Facebook group aimed at helping frustrated people find vaccine appointments.

They'll be with us in just a few moments.

If you have a question, you can give us a call.

The phone numbers 4 8 4 8 2 1 0 0 0 8.

Our guests will answer some of your questions live.

Plus, four daily coronavirus updates.

Be sure to sign up for our newsletter.

You can do that at our website coronavirus, the Lehigh Valley .org.

You can find information there in both English and Spanish.

Let's take a look at today's top headlines.

St Luke's University Health Network is planning a Spanish language forum on the Covid-19 Vaccine's.

It's a free virtual conversation that will be presented entirely in Spanish.

It will be held at 11:30am on Wednesday, February 24th and moderated by Mega Radio's Victor Martinez.

You can find a link to register at the St Luke's Univ.

St Luke's University website S L U H and .org.

The forum is being held in conjunction with the Hispanic Center of the Lehigh Valley.

Today the State Department of Health reported 300 excuse me 3378 New coronavirus cases and 125 new deaths.

The seven day moving average of new cases is down 24% from over 5000 just a week ago.

Nearly 2900 Pennsyvanians are hospitalized with Covid-19 down from the peak of over 6000 per day in early January.

All told, Pennsylvania has recorded more than 800 8000 cases of the virus and 22,700 45 deaths.

The city of Allentown is launching a call center to assist Allentown and Lehigh County seniors in registering for Covid-19 vaccinations.

It's open to all Lehigh County residents who are 65 older and have had difficulty scheduling an appointment online.

The number is 6 108 8 9 0 7 0 6 9 6 108 9 0 7 0 6 9.

The call center will be open for seniors Monday through Friday from 9am to 6 pm.

The city says operators will be bilingual and can help in scheduling vaccine supply permits.

And Governor Tom Wolf today announced $145 million will be distributed for hospital relief in all 67 counties.

The funding will be given by the end of the month and block grants to each county based on population grants will be awarded in $5,000 increments with a maximum amount of thousand dollars.

Applicants must have fewer than 300 employees and a net worth under $15 million.

It is time now to meet our guests for the day.

Dr Robert Murphy is executive Vice President and chief physician executive at Lehigh Valley Health Network.

We'll talk about the state's vaccine plan and how to pick up the pace of vaccine delivery.

Also here is Rene Shepherd.

She lives in Northampton County and co-founded a Facebook group that seeks to alert people in real time about vaccine providers with available appointments.

Thank you both so much.

For joining us today.

Rene, we will be with you in just a few minutes.

We're going to start today with Dr Murphy.

Doctor, thanks again for joining us.

Let's talk about vaccine supply.

It's what everybody is talking bout.

And of course, this afternoon you just got some really frustrating news that you may not get the vaccines you need for next week.

Yeah.

Brittany, it's, it's an incredibly challenging situation and frustrating on multiple levels.

So at the very base and so this the federal government's had represented the day had a certain inventory supply would be available.

They administered to the state government and then distributes it amongst the providers within the Commonwealth.

And with 13 million citizens within the Commonwealth, you inoculating all of them with vaccines that in some cases required doses.

It's certainly a very challenging, daunting task.

So it's very, very complicated.

Unfortunately, for those of us who are in the arena of providing vaccines to our citizens.

our ability to do so depends on supply and our ability to actually operationalize that.

That's to say to have all the vaccinators in place, to have people with the appropriate appointments within the stages that we are providing vaccine to and to get people through the door to then observe them for 15 minutes and send them on their way with their second appointment if they need it.

It's a very, very challenging operational issue.

And unfortunately, all that gets set in motion when we're advised when we will actually have the vaccine.

So the time the time in between, you know, notification delivery and shots and ARM is very, very limited.

And unfortunately today, you know, we received some very challenging news in that.

And that we would likely not get any new doses of a vaccine for next week, which would would be a real blow to our ability to service our community.

Shah So what does that mean for people who already have scheduled appointments and even second doses at that Gamma Brittany It's kind of like showing up at Christmas and having colon stocking.

I mean this is an incredibly emotional issue here.

You know, we've we now are in our 12th month of dealing with this pandemic.

You know, there's a ray of hope there came on the horizon two months ago when vaccines started to be distributed.

And now we're in the unfortunate position of one not only having to cancel potentially thousands of individuals in the Lehigh Valley who have been scheduled to have their vaccine, but also perhaps more concerned concerning us as physicians and providers, as having to reschedule folks who should be receiving their second vaccine in order to obtain the maximum benefit.

So very, very challenging.

So just the cancellations and then the rescheduling and then, you know, hoping beyond hope that the doses will be in our hands someday very, very soon to be able to deliver these doses, particularly those second doses.

Does LVHN have any recourse Gamma Can they do anything or are they just at the mercy of the Department of Health?

Is that kind of where you stand?

And did other networks get the same news as you're getting today?

Well, it's hard for me to say what other networks are getting.

I will say that LVHN it has been recognized by senators around the Commonwealth, particularly within Philadelphi, inner city Philadelphia, Lancaster County and other places around Tom Wolf as being one of the most effective means efficient vaccinators in the come.

.

So I'm not sure how the dose distribution is being levied out by the state.

I will say I don't know about other facilities either because this news that we're just discussing right now is literally hot off the presses and we're all on all leadership here at the network as is trying to reach out to the governor or the department, health and other other advocates so that we can try to wrap our arms around this.

And what we may message to the folks depending on us, actually, Dr Murphy, it sounds like there's a breakdown in communication.

Why the network just finding out now for next week.

It's already the middle of this week, less than a week away.

You're finding that you might have enough.

Not have enough doses for all of the people who have appointments.

Another good question, Brittany.

It's it's almost like being a kid in the old days and playing that game telephone.

Right.

So so the federal government has inventory and expectations.

Then they pass it out according to whatever methodology they use that then comes to the Commonwealth.

And then the Commonwealth is, you know, passing it out based on algorithms that they have with the recent change with Dr Levine joining our president in Washington and interim secretary ELSEand B.

We recently had discussions about how to serve the Commonwealth best.

I think the philosophy has changed with Secretary Beame and the X the actionable part of the administration now that we really should be looking at those high efficiency highly productive delivery systems that use operational science to get with limited supply to get the most supply in the most arms in the most efficient way.

So I think philosophic there's been a little bit of a shift, unfortunately, the communication cascade like when a kid where you whisper to one person, the other person would whisper to the other.

There are significant disconnects and you know, we're working as effectively as we can under the circumstances, but the state doesn't know what it can pass out until the federal government has shipment and yards and.

And then again, getting the word out to us in a timely fashion so that we can schedule is really, really challenging.

That can absolutely be frustrating for anyone who really wants or needs a vaccine.

Let's talk about that system.

Some states have a centralized system where they have vaccine rollout throughout the states.

I know here in Pennsylvania we don't have a centralized system.

It's more based on providers to get people scheduled and get those vaccines in arms on their own.

Do you think a centralized system would work better here in Pennsylvania?

Well, of course, I have to use the disclaimer here and that I have a relatively prejudiced view of that.

And maybe it's even more augmented after what we just talked about.

But you know, Department of Motor Vehicles is a challenge and that's a well-established system for the state to stand up a system, deliver effective communication to the 13 million citizens of the Commonwealth in short order and effectively be able to to direct and both the vaccine and the constituency to the appropriate place.

The appropriate time, I think is a very, very challengin ask of a single system.

And as we have experience here in the valley, at least we are blessed with two systems that effectively do connect with the community and have the ability to with limited information in very narrow windows of time, schedule and deliver the most effectively that we can.

And again, our rates are among the highest highest in the Commonwealth.

And so given the ability to have the right information, even with such a short timeline, we have demonstrated our ability to get the vaccines in arms very quickly.

So I would say that my faith is in local politics and all effectiveness I think is local.

With the caveat that there has to be a proven a proven elivery system.

So maybe the state steps into places that don't have infrastructure support stand.

But I think when you have a proven product, you probably shouldn't try to reinvent the wheel.

Sure.

So you're hearing today that you are getting a limited amount or none of the vaccines that you need.

Could that change by the appointments next week?

Has this happened in weeks past Gamma Have you seen this happen before?

Well, it is as you pointed out, the timelines are very, very short.

So we are trying to confirm at this very moment that the information received an hour and 10 minutes ago or so is in fact the case.

Sometimes there are you know, you double check your maths before you hand in the test paper sometimes and double checking and triple checking.

There has been vaccine that has been identified so at this point in time, we're still hoping and maintaining that the appointment schedule that we have.

But we are it's same time preparing for an alternative scenario where we have to cancel and reschedule based on lack of supply.

Sure.

And can you put into perspective for us how many people you have waiting for these vaccines and then how many you've been vaccinating on any given week Gamma So it all depends, Brittany, a little bit.

So as a members of your listeners to your show understand.

You know, just last week we stood up the Dorney Park Mass vaccination facility, which we were able to deliver a couple of thousand doses in one setting and we have the capability of delivering 30,000 doses a week across the all the areas that are served by Lehigh Valley Health Network.

So we have immense capability, but our ability capability different from ability.

The ability is limited by that vaccine.

So what we are facing today is actually having the lowest delivery of vaccine that we've had since the vaccination program began at a time when we were hoping to be ramping to meet the needs of more members of our communities.

Absolutely frustrating.

I want to kind of switch gears, not really, but just talk about something that recently happened last week.

You testified before the state Senate Aging and Youth and Health and Human Services Committees.

How did that come about and what was your message to them?

Well, I think, Brittany, it came about due to a number of reasons, but primarily because we are a we are an organization that's very invested in our community.

And as such, we advocate for our community needs with those individuals within state, federal, local governments that may have a hand in aiding us in our ability to deliver on our mission.

So through long lived relationships and through proven productivity, you know, before Covid-19 we had the mass flu vaccinations at Dawnie.

So we have a 20 year history of that.

So I think it's a combination of, you know, knowing who you know.

And folks knew us and we knew folks and having a proven product to █being able to very effectively deliver mass vaccinations in a different, different time with a different circumstance that actually got us to the front of the line, as it were.

There were only two health systems that were asked to testify.

We being one and I think it's really a tribute to to the Lehigh Valley its population for supporting things like that end and our network in that even inner city senators in their opening remarks now noted that we were potentially a model that should be followed.

I think it's with some some degree of objectivity that you can say is and based on the testimony that we gave from Lehigh Valley Health Network with the data because, you know, objective data really, really does sway our legislators.

So between our advocacy and the data, basically the model that's being moved towards under interim secretary being really adopts most of our principles operational science highly proficient organizations, regionalised station when possible.

And as the third largest area within the Commonwealth in a Commonwealth that has 30 million people.

But is the state that is the third or fourth most aged in the nation, that means there should be a high a high.

Alex, part of that vaccine that should be delivered to Pennsylvania by just the very nature of its population, not even layering in other co-morbidities that defined stages.

So we would really hope that with the adoption of this operational science methodology that we were able to discuss in an Harrisburg last week and the movement from the old way to the kind of accepting of that message by the department of Health that really we could get some some more of the supply chain directed our way in the weeks and months coming, coming Pike.

Sure.

Dr Murphy, I want ask you about herd immunity and if that doesn't happen, what if Covid-19 is here to stay?

How do we change our vaccine approach and what do we do moving forward if herd immunity is not capable?

Well, I think it's very important.

It's very important to make one distinction here that I that I've come to learn about, you know, just in conversations with friends and non-medical personnel, a vaccine is not immunity.

A vaccine actually would lower Europe would heighten your ability to fight off a bug, a virus.

But it doesn't make you immune.

So so disease can still be carried by those who are immunized.

What herd immunity means is that there is enough defense built up within population either through vaccine or having had the disease itself.

That the severity of the disease isn't isn't major, which is first and foremost there.

But then the minority of the herd that isn't vaccinated.

The disease is just so irregular that it doesn't really disrupt the well-being of the herd.

So that's the theory behind herd immunity.

Certainly if we were able to get the vaccine in enough supply, we do have that chance to do that.

The thing with vaccines right now is the new vaccines that are coming out are single Gio's, which might accelerate our ability to get to that herd immunity state.

But at the other hand, we have the variance in the long term impact on that Hermanator immunity, we're not quite sure.

So we be vigilant.

We have to maintain all those directives that we've been following for the last 12 months as far as masking at all times maintaining social distancing, good hygiene and get your arms next to a needle as fast as those needles become available.

And then I think there's hope for the other side.

Sure.

Dr Robert Murphy from LVHN, some really important information shared with us today.

Thank you.

Thank Britain.

We continue this community update coronavirus on PBS39.

You can hear the rebroadcast on the radio tonight at 9:30 on WLVT News.

91 three fm.

Now let's bring in our next guest, Rene Shepherd.

Was having trouble finding where to get a Covid vaccine, 19 vaccine for a loved one.

And she's not alone.

As we just heard, she turned that experience into a Lehigh Valley Facebook group.

Rene, thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you for having me.

So let's start here.

How can people find this group and what's the purpose of it?

Well, it's easy to find.

It's a Facebook group, so it's called Lehigh Valley Covid vaccine info.

So if you just search down on Facebook, you're easily able to find it.

And the reason it was started was out of frustration really.

I'm listening to Dr Murphy.

I think is there's going to be more frustration down the road and what we're trying to do is give people information and communicate.

And I think that kind of tries to tamper down some of the frustration and fear.

And, you know, people are really anxious over their ability to get a shot and so many people want it, but they just don't know how to go about it.

And there's a whole category people, they're kind of left out and they're not being able to access information.

And those are people that either don't have technology or can't use technology to get into some of these systems.

So what we're relying on is the access to people that are able like myself helping my mom try and get a vaccine down in Florida.

That's how this all started.

And it was super frustrating to find out that if you're not in the know, you're left out.

So if you don't use a smartphone or if you don't use a laptop, you really can't get the information.

And then even when you have that information, it becomes who's the fastest who can get in.

And at these odd hours and secure appointments, it became almost like Hunger Games for senior citizens.

And I don't think that was ever the intention.

But that's kind of the way the rollout is happening.

And as Dr Murphy said, you know, having a system in place would be amazing.

But right now it's kind of piecemeal.

So we're trying to fill some gaps here and provide information.

What we really do is aggregate what's out there.

So we collect everything that's available in the Lehigh Valley.

We do focus on Northampton and Lehigh County.

What's available, how people can secure appointments by signing up with the networks by looking at some of the other opportunities that have called lines.

And by making those connections and helping people help themselves or their family members that can't use technology.

Sure.

So on this Facebook, what are some of the most frequently asked questions and some complaints that you're hearing from people Gamma Well, there's a lot of frustration.

And one of the things that we do is we talk to people and say, you know, we have some basic rules.

We want people to be kind and respectful.

We want people not to talk.

This is not political.

So we don't want to politicize it.

We don't want to monetize it.

People should never pay for a vaccine or pay to have somebody secure them a vaccine.

We also want to make sure that we only provide verified information and that all of the information that we provide is relevant.

So we don't look for people to be venting.

We understand everybody's frustrated.

The biggest question we get asked is when is the vaccine going to be available?

When can I get my shot?

So we direct people to the Pennsylvania state guidelines and we have links to all of those.

We have links and phone numbers to all the providers and we try and encourage people to support each other.

This really is like a community effort.

It's people helping people.

So if somebody gets to access through a certain way or has a question about how to get into one of the different tools or is there a call line as opposed to an online registering tool, you know, how do you do that?

So people are helping people.

And it's been really highly successful.

We are not scheduling appointments.

We're not a considers service like that.

We simply are providing information helping people to stay positive, stay connected, get the most updated information.

And we're actually working with the counties as well.

We were aware of the Lehigh County change today in instituting a phone line, which is super helpful because we had a lot of people say I'm just so frustrated I can't use the tools that are out there.

So it's a lot of a lot coaching, a lot of helping each other and supporting each other.

And in today's day, and age, I think that's pretty spectacular.

Sure.

Rene, I was just going to say, do you have any success stories of any members logged on?

And for that information, been able to get scheduled and receive that vaccine Gamma Absolutely.

We had one day I call them team early risers.

There's one vaccine provider that schedules appointments at between five and six in the mrning, which is kind of bizarre because if you're not up at 5:00 or 6 o'clock in the morning, you're not going to get access.

So again, is it fair?

No, but we've got to help people get through the system and those people that got in post it immediately that portal was open and scheduling appointments and hundreds of @people got appointments.

So we do have those success stories.

We also try and get people to be realistic that, you know, vaccine appointments are dictated by vaccine supply.

So there is no, you know, line jumping.

There's no way you can get ahead of the system.

It is who's the category that can be served now.

And we leave that up to the providers to dictate who those most at risk populations are.

And then we ask are people that are members of our group to abide by those criteria and be patient and not try and clog up the system with irrelevant information or trying to trying to get ahead in the system, to work with the systems, to work with the providers and abide by the guidelines.

And finally, Rene, is this Facebook group just for the Lehigh Valley the greater Lehigh Valley Eastern Gamma What area do you serve?

And one more time if you could let people know how to join this group.

Sure.

It's the Lehigh Valley Covid Bucks.

Seen in both Facebook group and you can just go on, search that Facebook group and you can join one, accept our rules and also we have 2,500 people right now we are focussing on the Lehigh Valley if we do get news for our neighbors, we will put that up there.

But we try not to be more than we know.

We really want to stay within the networks of the Lehigh Valley and those Lehigh Valley providers.

Great Rene Shepherd from Lehigh Valley Covid Vaccine Info Group.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

And me.

Absolutely.

We want to thank you for watching community update Coronavirus.

We'll be here at 4pm each Monday, Wednesday and Friday on PBS39 and on the radio at 9:30 those same nights on WLVT News.

We'll be back Friday at 4:00 with State represents Mike Schlossberg of Allentown.

If you have a question, you can give us a call or leave it on our website, PBS.

39 or our phone number is 44 8 2 1 0 0 0 8 4 PBS39 and WLVT News Brittany Sweeney.

Stay safe.