Scanlon Takes Action to Highlight Urgent Need for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution
CHESTER, PA — Today, Representative Mary Gay Scanlon took action to emphasize the urgent need in Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional District for a national strategy to develop and distribute the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a letter to President Joe Biden and Acting Secretary of Health Norris Cochran, Rep. Scanlon requested that vaccine allotments be weighed with attention to the number of vulnerable individuals within these jurisdictions and not simply by total population.
“During a recent town hall I held with my constituents, their most pressing question was what is going on with the vaccine,” said Rep Scanlon. “We need to move immediately to correct the absolute failures of the previous administration to handle this pandemic.”
Rep. Scanlon wrote, “The absence of a strategic national plan, when combined with misinformation promulgated by the former administration, has created widespread frustration and anxiety as state and local governments try to stand up vaccine distribution, and individuals seek to protect themselves and their families.”
“My constituents in Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional District are feeling the burden of this confusion,” she continued. “Slow vaccine rollout has forced the Commonwealth to decide, with little federal input, which vulnerable communities to prioritize for vaccination — a difficult task given Pennsylvania’s complex and diverse population.”
“In determining vaccine allocation to states and localities, we request that your administration weigh vaccine allotments with attention to the number of vulnerable individuals within these jurisdictions and not simply by total population. This way, communities like mine, with a larger than average share of healthcare workers, and minority and elderly Americans are not left competing against one another for a scarce resource they all should have priority in accessing.” Rep. Scanlon concluded.”
A copy of the letter can be found here: https://scanlon.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Final_Vaccine_Distribution_Letter.pdf
