BOYLE LEADS LETTER TO WH CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE TEAM TO MODIFY PROBLEMATIC CDC ALLOCATION FORMULAS

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (PA-02) today sent a letter --co-signed entirely by House members representing large metropolises -- to White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients. The Boyle letter requests that Zients update CDC allocation formulas currently causing vaccine deficits in large cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago and New York, as well as in other city's across the nation. Congressman Boyle's letter requests a prompt modification of the current vaccine allocation formula to ensure that large cities like Philadelphia will have the proper supply of vaccines to accommodate all residents and workers.

"It has been communicated to my office that as many as half of the people vaccinated through the City of Philadelphia's efforts have been non-residents of Philadelphia," said Boyle. "This must be corrected. I am hearing similar concerns from House members from Chicago and New York City about these types of vaccination deficits. We must ensure that city residents who qualify for a COVID vaccine can actually get a vaccine. The CDC's allocation formula does not provide enough supply for large cities to accommodate our residents and our non-resident worker populations – that must change. More vaccines should be coming to Philadelphia so we can take care of our residents."

Boyle's concerns center around the current CDC distribution formula that he says does not adequately account for the rate at which Philadelphia, and other large cities, vaccinate non-resident workers. The situation in Philadelphia, where thousands of non-resident workers are employed in a variety of industries, is indicative of the inadequacies of the current formula now being implemented nationwide.

In early February, Boyle led a letter from the entire Philadelphia House delegation to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That letter expressed similar concerns the delegation had back then about vaccine deficits resulting from the current CDC allocation formula, and how the CDC's current population-based formula used to determine vaccine allocations may also be affecting many other large cities across the country in a similarly adverse manner.
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