The demand for the COVID-19 vaccine has slowed a bit, but local officials aren’t ready to declare a vaccine hesitancy.

For a few months, the limited supply was unable to match the high public demand.

Now vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are more readily available, and the Wolf administration is trying to calm the concerns of people who are reluctant to get it.

“The appointment availability does give us cause for concern because it’s indicative of hesitancy, which really is the challenge to come,” Alison Beam, acting state health secretary, said last week.

Almost half of the state’s nursing home workers have declined the vaccine - only 53% of staff in skilled nursing facilities have chosen to receive the vaccine, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s data.

Local officials are seeing a slowdown.

“The only thing we could think of is that people are putting it off because it’s nicer out, and people don’t want to be down and out for a couple of days when they could get out of the house for a little bit,” said Kathy Moyer, lead technician at Wind Gap Community Pharmacy.

“But I think a lot of it has to do with the Johnson & Johnson issue. As soon as they started pulling that, we did see a decrease in the constant request for vaccine.”

Although about a third of each of the area’s six local neighboring counties have received at least one dose, Moyer said traffic coming into the Wind Gap venue has quickly declined over the past week.

“Before, we were lined up down the street and behind the back of the store. Now we’re barely doing 200 a day,” Moyer added.

Moyer said the pharmacy has been administering vaccine since December and has had over 16,000 patients.

“It’s a big surprise to see such a decline,” Moyer said. “It was pretty much overnight. … It’s been about a week. It really is hit or miss. Every day is something different. We have learned to just roll with it.”

The Wind Gap Pharmacy has walk-in appointments available for vaccine every weekday. Additionally, they’ll be at the West End Fairgrounds for a walk-in clinic on May 1 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Any state resident over 18 years old is eligible and no appointment is necessary.

The DOH reported another 5,675 positive cases statewide on Monday, with Pennsylvania’s positivity rate at 9.6%, which is up roughly 2% since the end of March.

“I’d say the rush has slowed somewhat, but we are still filling appointments and there remains significant interest in the vaccine as our one-day high total of over 9,200 vaccinations around the network last Wednesday shows,” said Brian Downs, public information officer of Lehigh Valley Health Network.

“There are still some who are hesitant to receive the vaccine, and I would advise they pay attention to the data which is excellent both for vaccine effectiveness and safety. The vaccine also remains the main way we’re going to move forward and get back to doing many of the things we’re used to doing.”

Despite some recent reluctancy, there are ample chances to receive a vaccine at many locations with larger supplies.

“There are more opportunities, including our larger former box store clinics that opened in Whitehall and Lower Nazareth townships last week, which can provide up to 2,000 appointments a day each, five days a week, Monday through Friday,” Downs said.

“Our drive-thrus are continuing as well at Dorney Park, Northampton Community College and Pocono Raceway. The vaccine supply is good, as our supply from the state has continued to be consistent and we are able to administer up to 36,000 doses a week.”

More locations are offering the vaccine, such as ShopRite in Brodheadsville.

Are Pennsylvanians showing up for their second dose? In Carbon County, 23,912 county residents, or 37%, have received at least one vaccine dose.

Ann Marie Paluck, of Mauch Chunk Pharmacy, said she has seen most people are showing up for their second appointments.

“They’re typically coming to get their second doses, which is a good thing,” Paluck said. “But it might be a different location closer to home now that vaccines are becoming more accessible. In the beginning, a couple of months ago, they were hard to find, and people would travel distances to find vaccine. Overall, I would say that patients are getting their second dose.”

Paluck said Mauch Chunk Pharmacy had its second-dose Pfizer clinic on Saturday.

“I did the same amount of people - I think I only had five people that found it closer to home,” Paluck noted.

“The first time we had them come through, it was a real steady flow of people. This past Saturday, I said to the nurses that it seemed sporadic. People all showed up at one time, and then we had a bit of a lull. People are coming early, and then we had a little bit of a lull. But it was the same amount of people, minus five people, out of almost 500.”