Pennsylvania has resumed use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, following a thorough federal review which reaffirmed the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness against the virus, according to the Harrisburg-based Hospital and Health System Association of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania has administered first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to 35.4% of its eligible population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As the availability and administration rate of the COVID-19 vaccine ramps up across the Commonwealth and industry experts are predicting availability to the general public in the Spring, many employers are wondering whether they can require their employees to be vaccinated.

There seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel with the COVID-19 pandemic as vaccine rates begin to pick up in Pennsylvania. Still, many are frustrated with the slow pace up until this point – especially in getting vaccines to those working with the public who aren’t health care workers or teachers in group 1a of the state’s vaccine roll out.

The Pennsylvania National Guard (PANG) will be assisting with the state’s vaccination efforts following Governor Tom Wolf’s signing of House Bill 326.

The better question might be: When will many of our nursing homes even receive a date for vaccinations to begin? Some are hearing that it’s not until February.

UPS and FedEx are working to deliver the Covid-19 vaccine to vaccination sites from Pfizer’s plants in Michigan and Wisconsin, but the impending storm could make travel conditions treacherous in the Keystone State.

“This is a pivotal moment in our fight against COVID,”Jahre said. “The world has been waiting for this vaccine, and we are on the cusp of being able to provide it.”

"It could take a significant amount of time to immunize everyone in Pennsylvania. I anticipate that we’re going to be wearing masks in 2021, well into — maybe until the end of — 2021," she said.

State-licensed pharmacists and pharmacy interns will be able to order and administer COVID-19 vaccines when they become available thanks to new guidance through the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

INOVIO, the Doylestown-based pharmaceutical company, has completed the first phase of its clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine. All 40 healthy volunteers in the trial have now received their first dose, INOVIO says.

Pennsylvania has reported widespread flu activity for the past eight consecutive weeks.