Child care providers part of plan to vaccinate teachers; RiteAid, Walmart to set aside doses

Child care workers not affiliated with school districts also will be included in Pennsylvania's efforts to vaccinate teachers and others who work with children.

About 30,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 will be sent to RiteAid, Walmart and TopCo pharmacies across the state, in order to vaccinate child care providers working in home-based and other settings, Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday during a visit to a RiteAid pharmacy in Steelton, near Harrisburg. 

That's in addition to the more than 94,000 doses being sent to the state Department of Health that the commonwealth has earmarked for teachers and other school staff across Pennsylvania. 

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"Our efforts to protect vulnerable populations and communities cannot stop here," Wolf said. "Pennsylvania's goal has been to administer the vaccine in an efficient and ethical way, and an equitable way. We're working to ensure the most vulnerable populations have access to the vaccine as quickly as possible."

More:What we know about PA's plan to prioritize teachers for one-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine

Pennsylvania's vaccine distribution plan has recently come under fire, as leaders in Bucks, Montgomery and other southeastern Pennsylvania counties claim the region is being shortchanged its fair share of doses.

On Thursday, Bucks County Republican legislators introduced a bill that would require the vaccines to be distributed based on county population, rather than a more complicated formula currently in use by the state. 

More:GOP legislators: Bucks County being shortchanged on COVID vaccines

Wolf said Friday the state's distribution plan, while not perfect, is designed to target the most vulnerable populations, including those over the age of 65.

"We're following the guidelines of the federal government," he said. "We're making sure we're getting the vaccines out in the way it's meant to be, according to the priorities we've established. We'll have a much better sense of how we're doing in that regard in the next couple days."