Stephen Dunn
/ AP
The Pennsylvania Department of Health says its system of designating some coronavirus vaccines for people who already had their first dose is part of why the state appears to be lagging behind other states in how quickly shots are being administered.
Both the Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines being distributed in the U.S. require a second shot a few weeks after the first.
Nationwide, 50 million doses of those vaccines have been given to health care providers, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show. About 32 million have been reported as used — 65 percent of the total.
Pennsylvania is well below the national average. As of Tuesday, pharmacies and health systems across most of the commonwealth have gotten about 2 million doses. More than 1 million have been given to people — 57 percent, CDC data show. (Philadelphia is not included because it gets its vaccines through its health department and reports its numbers separately).