Snow delays Pa. vaccine shipments

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  Nina Feldman covers behavioral health for WHYY. She grew up in Ann Arbor Michigan, but before coming to Philadelphia she lived in New Orleans, where she worked at American Routes and contributed to the NPR affiliate WWNO. She likes to understand neighborhoods, watch friends do what they’re good at, and be underwater. She also started the New Orleans Ladies Arm Wrestling league, or NO LAW.
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  Joe Hernandez covers South Jersey for WHYY.
  He previously worked at WNYC, as a producer on the local news desk and at The Takeaway, WNYC and PRI's morning drive show. His work has appeared on NPR, the Columbia Journalism Review, and NJ Spotlight.

(Philadelphia) — The winter weather has caused vaccine shipment slowdowns from the manufacturers, affecting the majority of vaccine providers across the commonwealth.

Lindsey Mauldin, senior advisor on COVID-19 response for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said the Moderna vaccine was not shipped on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday from the distributor to the DOH; the Pfizer vaccine was not shipped Monday and limited doses were shipped Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mauldin noted this would cause a backlog both for orders going directly to providers, as well as to the health department for allocation to providers.

It was not clear how allocations would be prioritized with limited supplies. This delay is on top of the mishandling of second doses of Moderna vaccines reported Wednesday, leading to more scheduled first-shot appointments than available supply.

Maudlin said patients with appointments should stay in touch with providers as closely as possible to understand delays.

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WHYY is the leading public media station serving the Philadelphia region, including Delaware, South Jersey and Pennsylvania. This story originally appeared on WHYY.org.