Nearly 115,000 PEUC program payments have been issued since Sunday, January 24, the day the program reopened. Claimants can file for the 11 additional weeks provided by the extension, which is on top of 13 weeks provided in the original CARES Act. The PEUC program adds a total of 24 weeks to the number of eligible weeks a claimant has through the regular Unemployment Compensation (UC) program.

L&I identified and fixed the issue experienced by PEUC claimants who were not being offered claim weeks since they last filed for benefits on December 26.

PEUC claimants should now be able to file and should email uchelp@pa.gov if they experience additional issues with their claims.

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)

L&I reopened the PUA program on Friday, January 22. Since then, claimants have filed close to 420,000 weeks for the program, which assists workers who are not eligible for regular UC, such as gig workers, freelancers and self-employed workers.

L&I has received reports of a variety of issues with filing PUA claims including:

• Slow website or website pages that fail to load – This is caused by a high amount of website traffic. On Monday, L&I implemented a “waiting room” for claimants attempting to enter the PUA website during high traffic periods, which has prevented issues with the PUA website becoming overwhelmed.
• You are notified to reopen your claim even though you previously filed for the week of December 26 – These claimants should follow the directions to reopen their claim which can be found in the “Latest News and Announcements” widget on their dashboard.
• You self-identified as a permanent resident – This has been occurring since November and is unrelated to the new CARES Act extension. These claimants will not receive benefits until L&I verifies their work status. If you haven’t done so already, you should upload your permanent resident/visa information to your dashboard. If you have answered this question incorrectly and are a U.S. Citizen, and haven’t already done so, upload your birth certificate, passport or information to show your citizenship status.
• You filed for four weeks on January 24 but only received one payment – This issue is related to a recalculation of your balance. As of now, these claimants will not need to refile for the weeks ending January 2, 9, or 16, because L&I will process the filed claims once the issue is corrected.
• You tried to file before the PUA program reopened on January 22 and clicked a link labeled “COVID-19-2” causing your claim to appear inactive – The issues caused by early filing attempts have been fixed on most claims and will continue to be fixed today.

L&I is working quickly to correct these issues and will provide regular updates on social media and on our website at www.dli.pa.gov. PUA claimants should email ucpua@pa.gov if they experience issues with their claims, and provide as much detail as possible about the problem.

Claimants in the PEUC and PUA programs had been unable to file for claims ending after December 26 due to the federal government failing to finalize the extension of the federal CARES Act until December 27 and the federal Department of Labor not providing the guidance needed for Pennsylvania to ensure it was complying with federal law when making payments until January 11. L&I then needed time to complete recoding of its computer systems to account for changes in federal law.

L&I Resources and Links for Claimants

• Important Updates and News about the PUA Program
• Federal CARES Act
• Important L&I Updates Related to COVID-19
• Report Unemployment Fraud and Identity Theft
• 2020 Tax Forms for Claimants

For information on unemployment programs, visit uc.pa.gov or follow L&I on Facebook or Twitter. Click here for the latest L&I news.

Harrisburg, PA – Governor Tom Wolf and Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam provided an update today on the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in Pennsylvania and the many challenges that are ahead because of limited supply of doses from the federal government. They were joined at a press conference by Interim Acting Physician General Dr. Wendy Braund and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) Director Randy Padfield.

“Pennsylvania has not received enough doses to vaccinate the number of Pennsylvanians who need it, and that’s frustrating to all of us,” said Gov. Wolf. “The Trump Administration asked states to give more doses to more people, but the national stockpile was depleted.

“It is incredibly disappointing that the national vaccine supply is extremely limited, because states rely on the federal government to get the vaccine. My administration is fighting to make sure Pennsylvania gets our fair share of doses. Our goal remains to ensure every Pennsylvanian who wants a vaccine can get one.”

Following the poorly planned and executed rollout of the vaccine by the Trump Administration, the Wolf Administration is hopeful the new Biden Administration will provide a fair and effective national vaccine distribution strategy. The commonwealth remains focused on working with the federal government to receive more doses and get them into arms as soon as possible.

“We know that Pennsylvanians are ready for the vaccine,” said Acting Secretary Beam. “We ask for patience as the amount of the vaccine in Pennsylvania and the nation is limited. We want to ensure that the vaccine is provided in a way that is ethical, equitable and efficient, which is why we are taking a phased approach. This way we can make sure the most vulnerable residents can get vaccinated now.”

Vaccine providers have administered vaccine to a total of 605,633 people, including 473,449 people who have received their first dose and 132,184 who have received two doses and are considered fully vaccinated. Pennsylvania will receive 143,275 first doses of vaccine and 137,625 second doses of vaccine this week, bringing the total doses the commonwealth has received to more than 1.5 million total doses of vaccine.

Federal institutions and Philadelphia are receiving and administrating their own doses, which are not included in the state’s totals.

Information on the vaccine, including the state’s vaccine plan, COVID-19 vaccine dashboard, a vaccine provider map and vaccine distribution data can be found here.

“I have been impressed to see so many Pennsylvanians willing to make the sacrifices necessary to help each other get through the pandemic,” said Acting Interim Physician General Dr. Wendy Braund. “With the vaccine rollout happening across the state we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I want to specifically thank all of the local vaccine providers who are working hard to get the vaccine into arms as quickly as it is available.”

PEMA is working with the Department of Health and county emergency management partners to ensure that county plans will be ready to execute as vaccines become more readily available. With a state as diverse as Pennsylvania, needs for planning or vaccine event support vary widely across the state.

“Like many people, we look forward to the day that we have sufficient COVID vaccine doses for everyone who wants one,” said PEMA Director Randy Padfield. “When that day comes, PEMA and our federal and county partners will be ready to open vaccination clinics that meet the needs of the diverse communities across the state.”

Harrisburg, PA – Governor Tom Wolf and Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam provided an update today on the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in Pennsylvania and the many challenges that are ahead because of limited supply of doses from the federal government. They were joined at a press conference by Interim Acting Physician General Dr. Wendy Braund and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) Director Randy Padfield.

“Pennsylvania has not received enough doses to vaccinate the number of Pennsylvanians who need it, and that’s frustrating to all of us,” said Gov. Wolf. “The Trump Administration asked states to give more doses to more people, but the national stockpile was depleted.

“It is incredibly disappointing that the national vaccine supply is extremely limited, because states rely on the federal government to get the vaccine. My administration is fighting to make sure Pennsylvania gets our fair share of doses. Our goal remains to ensure every Pennsylvanian who wants a vaccine can get one.”

Following the poorly planned and executed rollout of the vaccine by the Trump Administration, the Wolf Administration is hopeful the new Biden Administration will provide a fair and effective national vaccine distribution strategy. The commonwealth remains focused on working with the federal government to receive more doses and get them into arms as soon as possible.

“We know that Pennsylvanians are ready for the vaccine,” said Acting Secretary Beam. “We ask for patience as the amount of the vaccine in Pennsylvania and the nation is limited. We want to ensure that the vaccine is provided in a way that is ethical, equitable and efficient, which is why we are taking a phased approach. This way we can make sure the most vulnerable residents can get vaccinated now.”

Vaccine providers have administered vaccine to a total of 605,633 people, including 473,449 people who have received their first dose and 132,184 who have received two doses and are considered fully vaccinated. Pennsylvania will receive 143,275 first doses of vaccine and 137,625 second doses of vaccine this week, bringing the total doses the commonwealth has received to more than 1.5 million total doses of vaccine.

Federal institutions and Philadelphia are receiving and administrating their own doses, which are not included in the state’s totals.

Information on the vaccine, including the state’s vaccine plan, COVID-19 vaccine dashboard, a vaccine provider map and vaccine distribution data can be found here.

“I have been impressed to see so many Pennsylvanians willing to make the sacrifices necessary to help each other get through the pandemic,” said Acting Interim Physician General Dr. Wendy Braund. “With the vaccine rollout happening across the state we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I want to specifically thank all of the local vaccine providers who are working hard to get the vaccine into arms as quickly as it is available.”

PEMA is working with the Department of Health and county emergency management partners to ensure that county plans will be ready to execute as vaccines become more readily available. With a state as diverse as Pennsylvania, needs for planning or vaccine event support vary widely across the state.

“Like many people, we look forward to the day that we have sufficient COVID vaccine doses for everyone who wants one,” said PEMA Director Randy Padfield. “When that day comes, PEMA and our federal and county partners will be ready to open vaccination clinics that meet the needs of the diverse communities across the state.”