Speaking of the state’s COVID-19 vaccination record thus far, Gov. Tom Wolf got one thing right: The rollout has not been good enough.

It has not been nearly good enough. And that has to change, fast.

The governor acknowledged Tuesday that Pennsylvania is in the “middle of the pack” when it comes to states’ distribution of the critically important vaccines that are available. And he said the middle isn’t good enough.

That’s right. But now we need action, not lamentation.

Pennsylvania’s new acting health secretary, Alison Beam, also on Tuesday, urged residents to remain patient.

But patience is not what citizens are feeling right now and it is not what state officials should be feeling or urging upon us.

More and more people are dying and becoming ill. Patience is not what we need. We need the vaccine and we need the governor and the health secretary to have a sense of immediacy, urgency and impatience.

Ms. Beam said demand outweighs supply. Yes, we can all see that. But that is not the only obstacle.

Considerable effort has been invested in Pennsylvania in the bureaucracy of distribution: who gets it first. Yes, a determination was needed as to top-priority recipients — such as health care workers. But the ultimate priority now is quantity of vaccinations.

Neighboring West Virginia is doing better. Why? In part because West Virginia officials grasped that red tape, debate and complex protocols and categories can slow the whole process down. The key thing is to immunize the maximum number of people in the shortest amount of time.

Health leaders in Pennsylvania must be humble enough to look at West Virginia, and other states that are doing better, and emulate what works.

More than 800,000 Pennsylvanians have been sickened during the pandemic. More than 20,000 citizens have died.

The crisis demands a more fervent response — more like Churchill or FDR than a recall notice on your car or talking to a phone robot about a package you need to return.

Yes, the protocol for who can receive an inoculation has changed. More people are eligible. But that expansion of eligibility does no good if those who are allowed to get the shot can’t get an appointment.

The governor said Pennsylvania was led somewhat astray by federal promises that a decentralized vaccine signup system would be more efficient, in contrast with a centralized portal being tapped by some states.

Maybe so, but that doesn’t help anyone now. Less energy should be directed to finger pointing and all available energy should be directed to implementing the best methods, determined by the best information available today.

Since the vaccine rollout began more than a month ago, Pennsylvania has delivered some 800,000 shots in arms of the more than 1.6 million doses that have been distributed to the state by the federal government, according to figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is a C-minus performance. We are muddling; we are sputtering.

Not all the problems in Pennsylvania can be fixed in Pennsylvania. More federal help is necessary and, hopefully, on the way.

This is not the time for patience but for passionate urgency and effective, immediate implementation.

— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS