Some people in Philadelphia get coronavirus vaccinations, though they may not be eligible – and the city has not devised a way to stop them.
The health commissioner, dr. Thomas Farley, said on Friday that people have been sending vaccination links to others for weeks, but the company that has to run the appointment software has not yet solved the problem. As a result, some people get used to someone else’s appointment link, even if they are not yet able to.
Despite the problem, the city has not taken any further selection measures to ensure the right people are vaccinated, Farley said.
“They may be medically eligible, but they were not necessarily the people invited,” the commissioner said. “So, if they are there, we will vaccinate them and they will continue to vaccinate them.”
The reason for this is because one of the city’s goals is to vaccinate people as quickly as possible, and that it would therefore be counter-intuitive to turn some away, even if they did not have an appointment, Farley said.
Nevertheless, he begged people not to hit the line for their shot. He said the city and the company that runs the vaccine appointment software are working on some sort of “solution for early next week, but it has not yet been finalized.”
Next week, Philadelphia expects to receive about 19,800 doses of Pfizer vaccine and 15,600 doses of Modner vaccine, Farley said, adding that the federal government is also allocating about 5,000 doses of Moderna to local pharmacies.
As of Sunday, Feb. 28, about 234,000 people had received their first vaccine and 110,000 their second, Farley said. Of those vaccinated, about 23% are Black, 4.5% Spanish and 6.4% Asian.
Philadelphia also expects approximately 13,100 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Because the vaccine is only a single dose, the city recommends that health care providers give the shot preference to people who are difficult to reach, such as short-term people and those who are home-bound, Farley said.