Many suburban patients who are receiving treatment for high-risk conditions at Philadelphia hospitals are not able to get the COVID-19 vaccine from their doctors as they do not live in the city, write Aubrey Whelan, Jason Laughlin, and Justine McDaniel for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Philadelphia is treated separately from the rest of the state – it receives its vaccines from the federal government. The city is allowed to use its vaccines for healthcare workers who work in the city but live in the suburbs, but the same thing is not true for patients.

This situation is the latest symptom of the vaccine rollout that has proven to be cumbersome and frustrating. It is also being made worse due as the state’s vaccine allocations for suburban collar counties have proven to be inadequate.

This is leaving at-risk suburban residents, such as cancer patients, who were hoping to receive the vaccine from their Philadelphia doctors hanging.

The issue has been noticed and “conversations are happening” with city health systems about vaccine supply, said Barry Ciccocioppo, a spokesperson for the state Health Department. However, he offered no specifics.

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