“The more people we can get with gunshots, the more lives we are going to save,” said Dr. Reboli said. “It becomes dangerous when you know something is a major risk factor, and then have to choose the list.”
However, other states seem to have just done it. New Mexico and Texas have people with other high-risk medical conditions eligible for the vaccine, but not smokers. Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts and North Carolina include smokers, but only later.
Getting on the list of people who are eligible for the ration vaccine is one thing. Securing an appointment for a shot is another matter.
Officials managing a provincial vaccine in Kearny, NJ, said Friday that they had received 3,500 requests within 24 hours of the state’s announcement of expanded eligibility, but still expect their initial vaccine supply to be depleted by Monday. They said they hope to get more doses by Tuesday.
In Bergen County, an early epicenter of the virus in New Jersey, the slots for the Holy Name Medical Center’s vaccine clinic were filled within hours of being made available online – even before the pool of suitable people grew.
Dr. Adam Jarrett, chief medical officer at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, NJ, said that too many people being vaccinated is better than having too few, and he praised the broad expansion of the state. In the past month, before the award was extended, the hospital sometimes found itself with extra doses of thawed vaccine at the end of the day.
No vaccine went to waste, said dr. Jarrett said, but it required effort.
“We would literally walk up and down the hallway and call hospital staff,” Dr Jarrett said. “This vaccine is gold and we do not want to waste a single dose.”
Now, he said, the challenge was to get more vaccine from the federal government.
“We need to open it up,” Dr Jarrett said. “When you are vaccinated, you do it for yourself, but you also do it for the wider community.”