By Tim Mastro

DOVER — Despite limited supply, Delaware will stick with its plan to push out as many first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, state officials said Tuesday night during a virtual town hall.

Dr. Karyl Rattay, the director of the Delaware Division of Public Health, assured second doses will be given to everyone, although supply might affect that timetable.

The Pfizer vaccine requires three weeks in between the first and second doses while the Moderna vaccine is four weeks. Dr. Rattay said the first dose provides between 50% to 82% of protection and that number rises above 90% when paired with the second dose.

While the state will make second doses available as soon as it can, Dr. Rattay said it is using this time to offer the most protection by attempting to administer as many first doses as possible.

“We are really, really limited in the amount of vaccine that we have,” Dr. Rattay said. “What we’re trying to do is make the most out of this vaccine to offer the most protection that we can for Delawareans.”

Just administering the first dose to those who are eligible now will help the state prevent hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19, she said.

As of Monday at 11:59 p.m., the state is reporting 109,250 doses received from the federal government with of those 77,924 already administered. However the actual number of doses administered is unknown as the state is experiencing reporting delays to its immunization information system DelVAX.

Delaware is in Phase 1B of its distribution plan. Phase 1B includes about 200,000 individuals while there are also around 70,000 in Phase 1A. The combined total of more than 270,000 individuals will both require two shots from Pfizer or Moderna, meaning Delaware needs to receive more than 540,000 doses to vaccinate everyone in Phases 1A and 1B.

The state is expecting a shipment of 18,725 doses (11,900 Moderna and 6,825 Pfizer) this week. Its weekly allotment from the federal government is usually around that number although Gov. John Carney said at the virtual town hall the Biden administration said Tuesday state’s allocations will increase by 16% over the next three weeks.

Still, a 16% increase will only provide an extra 2,500 to 3,000 doses for Delaware, depending on the week.

“We are in a really challenging situation right now where the supply of this vaccine is so extremely limited,” Dr. Rattay said. “The amount of doses we’re receiving right now are so limited in comparison to the number of individuals that we want to get vaccinated.”

While state leaders said they hope Delaware’s allocation can increase, there are other COVID-19 vaccines on the horizon which could be approved soon such as one from Johnson & Johnson that requires a single dose.

The state is expanding its options for eliglble individuals to receive the vaccine this week in an effort to push out more first doses.

Several Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles sites hosted drive-thru clinics over the last two weeks. Two on Saturday, in Delaware City and Georgetown experienced significant delays due to cold weather, traffic issues and registration issues. Gov. Carney apologized multiple times Tuesday night for those inconveniences, noting Sunday’s events went much better as the state corrected the problems.

Gov. Carney announced smaller community-based vaccination events for this week, in a partnership with Vault and Curative Inc. Invites to the Vault event were extended through community organizations, in an effort to provide vaccine access to under-represented populations, and invites to the Curative site went to those on the state’s waiting list for people 65 years or older.

Individuals ages 65 and older can still sign up for the waiting list by visiting vaccinerequest.delaware.gov. Dr. Rattay said there are about 100,000 people still on the waiting list, although that includes with some duplicates.

The state is also relying more on pharmacies and primary care doctors to administer vaccinations.

A list of pharmacies and medical providers accepting public requests for vaccination is available  online by following the link “Find Where to Get Vaccinated.” By then scrolling down and clicking on “Pharmacies” a list of participating vendors will show up, displaying Walgreens, Rite Aid, Camden Pharmacy, Walmart and Aspira Health.

Individuals can click on each logo of the pharmacies offering vaccines and attempt to register through those links.

All scheduling must be done online from the link provided. No walk-ins, email or phone scheduling is available for those appointments. The state notes emails received by requesting a vaccine through the state’s online system cannot be used to receive a vaccine in a pharmacy.

The ability to find an appointment for a vaccine at one of those options all depends on supply.

“They could give out thousands more doses of vaccine, the primary care doctors want more, the pharmacies want more, we’re just not getting it,” Gov. Carney said. “That’s just the reality.”

When asked Tuesday night, Gov. Carney said he has not received a dose of vaccine yet.

“I have not been vaccinated, my number hasn’t come up,” he said. “My number won’t come up prior to seniors, 65 and older.”