San Francisco and San Mateo have stopped delivering coronavirus vaccines to a healthcare provider that allegedly vaccinated ineligible people.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health has instructed provider One Medical to return approximately 1,620 doses of Pfizer vaccine.
In San Francisco, One Medical was supposed to vaccinate health care workers as outlined in Phase 1A of the state vaccination program, including home care providers and dentists and physicians who are not affiliated with a major health care provider.
But One Medical released a report on Feb. 17 stating that it gave a number of doses to people whose status as health workers could not be confirmed, the department said in a statement.
San Mateo public health officials said in a statement that “the problems with One Medical are disappointing but not representative of the country’s strong and successful vaccination efforts.”
One Medical is based in San Francisco and has locations in the US, including several in Los Angeles. It charges patients an annual membership fee of $ 199 and advertises itself as a healthcare provider that ‘practices medicine as it should be applied, focusing on improving the patient experience and challenging health status,’ and its benefits. ‘ longer ‘call, non-rushed appointments. ”
Dr Andrew Diamond, chief medical officer of One Medical, said the company did not knowingly vaccinate anyone who did not qualify.
“Under no circumstances have we deliberately vaccinated anyone who did not meet the requirements according to the health departments we worked with,” Diamond said Thursday.
He added: “That does not mean that bad actors can not do bad things.”
Two employees of One Medical were terminated due to ‘inappropriate use of a vaccine’, Diamond said and declined to provide details.
According to a statement from One Medical, 96% of the people vaccinated by the company have documentation proving that they are eligible, while 4% have been vaccinated to avoid doses.
The statement states that the company regularly dismisses people without the necessary documentation.
In the province of San Mateo, education officials reported that One Medical vaccinated people before they were eligible under the state and province’s enrollment system.
Public health officials have decided to sever ties with One Medical after an investigation revealed that the company had vaccinated 70 disabled people.
Diamond calls the situation “one of the most unfortunate things that has happened in our experience with vaccine dispensing or administration.”
He said some teachers were notified by a school superintendent that they were eligible and that they received the shot after showing an email from the superintendent.
Diamond said the company apologized to provincial officials for the mistake. The teachers ‘came to us in good faith and we did the vaccination in good faith’, he said.
He said he believes San Francisco’s decision to recall doses was not punitive, but intended to redistribute the vaccine in neighborhoods where One Medical does not have offices.
According to the San Francisco Department of Public Health, one medicine left enough vaccine to give second doses to each recipient.
Provincial officials have demanded that the unused doses be returned due to problems with recipients who are not verified health workers, the department said in a statement.
The unused doses “will be redistributed to other providers who can target doses to priority populations based on health considerations,” the statement said.
In Los Angeles County, public health officials in late January received a complaint that One Medical had vaccinated someone who was not a health worker.
Officials have warned the company that it will not receive any more vaccine if it does not comply with the province’s guidelines, the public health department said in a statement.
The province has not received any further complaints about One Medical, the statement said.
Times Rook writer Kevin Rector contributed to this report.