Thanks to the amazing efforts of medical research and development companies – some of whom the PA Chamber is proud to count among its membership – the end of a very tumultuous 2020 offered a bright light of hope with the approval and a start to the initial rollout of COVID-19 vaccines across America. The early doses are appropriately being distributed among health care professionals who for nearly a year have been at the front lines of battling the COVID-19 pandemic; along with those living and working in long-term living facilities where the virus has wreaked havoc.

Last month, our organization sent a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf – who we are glad to see is following the Centers for Disease Control’s recommendations for who should be next in line to get the two-dose vaccine – and urged him to include essential workers in the next round, or Phase 1B, of the vaccine prioritization list. This would cover first responders including fire fighters and police offers; teachers and daycare workers; food and agricultural workers; manufacturing workers; grocery store workers; postal workers; and public transit workers; as well as those who are seniors or those with high risk medical conditions.

The steady, organized rollout of vaccines across Pennsylvania are essential to both the public’s health and the health of our overall economy. While the COVID-19 vaccines aren’t a panacea to ending the virus, they’re a key component to its defeat and one the PA Chamber is proud to promote. We urge all of our members to get the COVID-19 vaccine whenever it becomes available to them, and to encourage their employees, friends and family members to do the same. Ensuring widespread inoculation of this vaccine is one big way that we can work together in 2021 and help to reverse the tragic loss of life and economic devastation that marked 2020.

Visit the “Bringing PA Back” website to view a new vaccine rollout webpage that provides the latest information from the CDC and the state Department of Health on each phase of the rollout plan – including information on the phase the Commonwealth is currently in; along with other timely resources we’ll be including in the weeks and months ahead.

Stay safe!