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COVID-19 Update 2/18: Vaccine providers inadvertently administered second doses

As of Thursday, four more county residents have reportedly died from COVID-19.

According to Thursday's report by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the county's COVID-19 death toll was 360, representing an increase of four people from Wednesday's report.

Thursday's report also showed an increase of 14 new confirmed cases, which brings the county's pandemic-wide total number of confirmed cases to 8,740.

Vaccine efforts also have continued with the state's latest data showing that 18,367 Butler County residents have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 7,590 have received both doses.

The data does not differentiate which type of vaccine the residents received, which may become important as state officials on Thursday elaborated on a mistake they recognized over the weekend.

Department spokesman Barry Ciccocioppo said some pharmacies and other smaller providers have been administering their shipment of second doses as first doses.

State officials said they did not know specifically which pharmacies had done this, but they will look into that after the are able to correct the problems that caused the blunder in the first place.

“There's blame on both sides,” said Barry Ciccocioppo, spokesman for the department. “The fix we're putting in place will take about three weeks.”

The following numbers on the coronavirus pandemic were compiled from regular news releases from the state Department of Health.COVID-19 statistics from Thursday are:<b>Butler County</b>Confirmed cases: 8740Probable cases: 4,829Negative tests: 45,139Deaths: 360<b>Pennsylvania</b>New cases: 3,345Total cases: 905,995New deaths: 94Total deaths: 23,413Recovered: 88%<b>Surrounding Counties</b>Allegheny: 581,71 confirmed cases; 351,463 negative; and 1,666 deathsArmstrong: 3,808 confirmed cases; 14,412 negative; and 115 deathsBeaver: 10,002 confirmed cases; 44,162 negative; and 341 deathsClarion: 1,705 confirmed cases; 7,766 negative; and 80 deathsLawrence: 4,462 confirmed cases; 17,616 negative; and 178 deathsMercer: 6,310 confirmed cases; 26,352 negative; and 237 deathsVenango: 2,654 confirmed cases; 26,352 negative; and 79 deathsWestmoreland: 18,586 confirmed cases; 84,986 negative; and 657 deaths

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