While millions of Americans are waiting for the COVID-19 vaccine, hospital board members, their trustees and donors across the country have gained early access to the scarce drug or vaccination offers, infecting complaints of favoritism over who is vaccinated and when .
Attorney General Peter Neronha has launched an investigation in Rhode Island into reports that two hospital systems have offered their board members vaccinations. A hospital system in Seattle has been reprimanded by the Washington government, Jay Inslee, after offering COVID-19 vaccinations to major donors. And in Kansas, members of a hospital board received vaccinations during the first phase of the state’s launch, which was intended for people at greater risk for infection.
Hospitals in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia have also faced questions about the distribution of vaccines, including to donors, trustees and family members of executives.
The revelations could threaten public confidence in a national explosion already marked by vaccine shortages, appointment surveys and conflicting standards to determine who is eligible.
“We want people to be vaccinated based on priority, not privilege,” said Inslee spokesman Mike Faulk. “Everyone deserves a fair chance to be vaccinated.”
At the behest of the federal government, states instituted drained distribution pipelines that were first aimed at protecting essential workers and those most at risk, including older Americans. In California, medical workers, first responders, nursing home residents and people aged 65 and older are at the forefront of the popular shots.
In some cases, it is not clear whether rules were violated when people outside priority groups received vaccinations. Guidelines differ according to state and hospitals can make decisions to decide. In California, suppliers have more room to make sure they are not wasting a difficult vaccine in cases where it could run the risk of spilling.
Attorney General Peter Neronha has launched an investigation in Rhode Island in two hospital systems after The Providence Journal reported this month that some board members of the hospital systems Lifespan and Care New England have been offered vaccinations.
In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, Neronha said the report, if true, raises questions about whether the vaccine is being distributed properly.
“We all know that the stakes are incredibly high. “People are frustrated, they are scared,” said Neronha. “Given the lack of supply here, every dose is critical.”
Care New England spokeswoman Raina Smith said in an email that administrators would cooperate with the investigation. Lifespan spokeswoman Kathleen Hart emailed a statement saying the hospital system followed the lead of Rhode Island health officials and recently received approval to vaccinate lower risk employers and volunteers .
The Seattle Times reported that the Overlake Medical Center and clinics emailed about 110 donors who donated more than $ 10,000 to the hospital system, telling them that vaccination slots are available. The email gave the donors an access code to register for appointments only ‘by invitation’.
At the same time, the overlake public registration site was full until March. The medical center’s chief operating officer said the invitation was an instant solution after the hospital’s scheduling system failed. Overlake closed online access to the invitation clinic after being called by Inslee’s staff, and CEO J. Michael Marsh apologized.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has called on the state to reevaluate its vaccine policy to make sure the most vulnerable, especially coloreds, are put first. Hospital donors should be banned, she said.
“We are committed to ensuring that our fight against the pandemic does not exacerbate inequality,” she said.
Arthur Caplan, director of medical ethics at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, said it is not surprising that hospitals that receive vaccines to vaccinate their workers will interpret guidance broadly and include those who do not work directly with patients. , such as computer technicians.
But if hospital board members gain early access to the vaccine, regardless of the reasoning of an individual hospital, it only undermines the public’s confidence that shots are being distributed fairly, Caplan said.
“It’s a reminder that if you’re rich, well connected and know how to operate the system, you can access what others cannot,” Caplan said. “Here it’s right in our face when it comes to vaccinations.”
Fred Naranjo, owner of an insurance company in San Francisco and chairman of the board in the St. Rose Hospital in Hayward, California, received a first vaccine before Christmas along with first responders and front-line medical workers.
Naranjo told KNTV-TV he does not seek special treatment before others. He said he often ‘walks in the wards and talks to people’ in hospital and that he wanted to serve as a role model for others in the Spanish community to be vaccinated.
“The most important thing I wanted to do is show people to take the vaccine and not be afraid,” Naranjo said. ‘That it’s safe. They need to be protected. ”
Hospital spokesman Sam Singer said Naranjo is the only councilor vaccinated because he visits the hospital weekly to meet doctors, nurses and patients.
In Kansas, members of the Stormont Vail Health Board, along with the fundraising board, received vaccinations during the first phase of the program, which focused on nursing homes and health care workers. Spokeswoman Matt Lara said workers first received shots, and councilors received them for controlling the hospital and its day-to-day operations.
In California, Santa Clara County, southeast of San Francisco, health officials are withholding COVID-19 vaccines from a hospital after offering the vaccine to about 65 teachers and staff from a wealthy school district in Silicon Valley, killing people over 65 and health workers skipped. .
Los Gatos Union School District teachers and staff received an email last week from Superintendent Paul Johnson offering vaccines ahead of schedule. In the email, first post through the San Jose Spotlight newspaper, Johnson said the hospital’s offer was made in gratitude because the district raised funds for 3,500 meals given to the frontline workers at Good Samaritan Hospital and another facility.
Teachers said in the email that they should mimic health workers despite the threat of perjury to gain access to the vaccine. Good Samaritan CEO Joe DeSchryver said in a statement on Tuesday that all appointments for a vaccine for people who are not health workers or over 65 have been canceled.
“We regret the mistake we made in our efforts to use all vaccines before the expiry,” he wrote.
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Associated Press author Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles contributed to this report.