Philadelphia officials addressed errors in the health department's COVID-19 vaccine data dashboard on March 9 — which previously displayed incorrect vaccination rates for both adults and children.
While approximately one-third of children ages five to 11 have received at least one dose of the vaccine, the Philadelphia Health Department previously reported a higher figure of 53.6%, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Similarly, while just over three-fourths of adults ages 18 and older are fully vaccinated, the city’s dashboard displayed that 82% were.
The health department has updated the city’s vaccine dashboard to include the correct vaccination rates. In addition, Philadelphia will now have a second team of experts to verify vaccine numbers in addition to a new monthly review of vaccination data, the Inquirer reported.
Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole and her top deputies became aware of the data errors by Feb. 16, spokesperson James Garrow told the Inquirer.
According to officials, the health department mistakenly duplicated vaccination numbers for children while adding data into the vaccination records. The officials did not address the inaccuracies in adult vaccination rates, the Inquirer reported.
The news of the city’s lower vaccination rates did not impact Philadelphia’s decision to lift its mask mandate last week, Garrow told the Inquirer.
The city’s correction to the figures arrives shortly after the Inquirer reported discrepancies in Philadelphia’s vaccination data for children on March 4. Similarly, in November 2021, the CDC also mistakenly inflated Pennsylvania’s vaccination rate.
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