During a briefing by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, it was announced that the state has aligned its distribution plan with the federal government’s.

That does not mean there are enough doses of vaccine for everyone in Phase 1A. But, it does prioritize older Pennsylvanians and others at higher risk.

An interactive map of vaccination sites can be found at the department’s vaccine dashboard.

On Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden nominated Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine as Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Tuesday’s state briefing was hosted by Department of Health Deputy Secretary for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Cindy Findley.

During that briefing, Findley said the state has aligned with federal vaccination plans and expanded the current vaccination phase – 1A – to include everyone 65 and over and those 16 to 64 who have serious medical conditions that make them more at-risk. The department also updated the list of phases on its vaccine dashboard to reflect the changes.

“These are the people who are more likely to get very sick from COVID-19 and are more likely to die from it,” she said.

That puts 3.5 million Pennsylvanians in the current phase of vaccination, she said.

“We want you to get vaccinated as quickly as possible,” Findley said. “We know that Pennsylvanians are ready for the vaccine.”

“We have developed a tool on PA.gov to assist you,” she said. “You can use the short vaccine eligibility quiz to determine if it’s your turn.”

“If it’s your turn… go to our website,” she said. “We have an interactive map that identifies the providers that are available.”

On that interactive map, “Green indicates those locations have vaccine,” Department of Health Director of Communications April Hutcheson said. “Red indicates they do not.”

For the time being, there aren’t enough doses to go around.

“What’s taking some time is the minimal amount of vaccine that we’re receiving,” Findley said.

While Pennsylvanians are waiting for their vaccines and for their second doses, they should be “masking up, washing our hands, and maintaining social distance,” Findley said.

County update

There were only three new cases of COVID-19 in Warren County announced on Tuesday and no new deaths.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health’s daily statistics showed the lowest increase in new cases in months. The last time there were as few as three, there were two on Nov. 23. At that time, there had been 165 cases in the state.

Since then, the number has risen to 1,872. Over that time, less than two months, the average increase has been 29.95 new cases per day.

With no new deaths reported on Tuesday, the county’s COVID-related death toll remained at 73.