We, the admins of two Facebook groups representing the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas that have connected hundreds of thousands of people with vaccine appointments in our state, have created this petition directed at Governor Wolf and the PA Department of Health to urge them to push forward a directive to open unfilled vaccine appointments to anyone old enough to receive them 24 hours before the appointment or clinic start time. 

As individuals who are closely following the availability of appointments across the state, we are increasingly concerned by thousands of unfilled appointments (many of which are still open on the day of the clinics themselves), particularly in rural areas. These numerous unfilled appointments are occurring at the same time that COVID cases are increasing across the state and restrictions on gatherings are loosening. 

From our observations, the 1A group alone is not currently capable of filling these unfilled spots for the following reasons:

• There hasn’t been sufficient communication to direct people to these unfilled slots who are not online or who do not know how to navigate the current online system. 
• Many people in the 1A group are very particular about where they will receive a vaccine, either by preference or because they physically cannot travel far from their homes. This means many appointments in rural areas with lower demand are sitting unfilled because the remaining 1A individuals are not willing or able to get to these locations. 
• People are becoming increasingly particular about which vaccine they receive, either out of convenience or for medical reasons. Many only want the J&J vaccine, which leaves many of these Pfizer and Moderna appointments going unfilled. 
• Some people in the 1A group either don't realize they qualify or are “letting others go first” because they think there are people who need the vaccine more than they do.
• There is a large portion of the 1A group that is not interested in being vaccinated. 

There are people outside of the 1A group who are ready and willing to drive to these areas and fill any unclaimed spots. Also, with the recent opening of Ohio on March 29 to individuals 16+, as well as other bordering states like Maryland, West Virginia and New York opening to more people, more and more people unqualified in PA are leaving our state to be vaccinated across state lines. 

The following directive currently exists on Page 13 of this document linked on the PA DOH site: 

“Nothing in these prioritization phases should be construed as prohibiting the distribution of vaccine to subsequent phases if vaccine needs to be administered within a certain timeframe in order to avoid wastage and there are no individuals in the current vaccinating phase available, or if a provider has on hand more vaccine than is necessary to vaccinate all individuals in the current phase of vaccine administration.”

HOWEVER, there is no specific directive from the state on how providers are meant to interpret this policy or when/how they can implement it. We have spoken to providers who are afraid to publicly open their eligibility to people outside of 1A for fear that they will not be allocated future doses. Instead, they are relying on word-of-mouth and last-minute communication to people they know to get the word out about unfilled slots. This is not an equitable system for filling these slots and alienates many people who cannot drop everything and run to fill these spots if they “happen” to hear about them. 

Establishing an across-the-board policy that providers can open unfilled appointments to those outside of 1A (and subsequent eligibility phases) 24 hours before these appointments are scheduled would alleviate the pressure on providers to fill these slots at the last minute and ensure more people are being vaccinated more quickly. 

We encourage the governor to swiftly move forward with this directive and/or consider opening vaccine appointments to more groups so we can speed the vaccination process in our state and prevent more unnecessary infections and deaths. 

This petition has been endorsed and put together by the admins of the following Facebook groups: 

Getting Pittsburgh Vaccinated - COVID-19 Appointment Tip Page 

PA CoVID Vaccine Match Maker 

Frustrated with all of these unfilled openings? Contact your reps and share this petition to alert them to the problem and urge them to move to the next phase OR to at least implement a rule that allows people outside of 1A to book these appointments 24 hours before they start.

Governor’s office: https://www.governor.pa.gov/contact/
Department of Health: https://www.health.pa.gov/About/Pages/Contact.aspx
Find your legislators: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/.../home/findyourlegislator/