Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
States Wrestle With Requirements For Proof Of Vaccine Eligibility
The Baltimore Sun: Lack Of Eligibility Checks At Maryland’s Mass COVID Vaccination Sites Is A ‘Double-Edged Sword,’ Experts Say
People who show up to Maryland’s mass coronavirus vaccination clinics will not be turned away for lack of documentation or proof of eligibility — a possible benefit for some of the state’s most at-risk residents, but also for those exploiting the system, medical ethicists, logistics experts and lawmakers say. (Miller and Mann, 3/2)
San Francisco Chronicle: California's Vaccine Sites Don't All Require Proof Of Eligibility, Leaving Room For Line Jumpers
The state has issued no guidelines on how vaccination sites should verify eligibility. Counties have varying rules, with some leaving it up to the vaccination site to decide what verification, if any, to require. The lack of uniform rules and enforcement underscores the porous nature of California’s approach to vaccination. While relying largely on the honor system helps advance the urgent public health goal of quickly vaccinating as many people as possible, it also leaves the rules open to abuse. But because many vaccination sites are not checking for proof of employment-related eligibility, it's unclear how many individuals have cheated the system, or tried to. (Ho and Bobrowsky, 3/1)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Teachers Going Out Of State To Get Vaccinated
The Georgians making these trips see vaccination as essential to safety in their schools. Health leaders in the destination states say the traveling teachers are taking vaccines away from their residents, but they haven’t prohibited the activity. Georgia is not reciprocating. Under recently published state rules, vaccine providers in the state could temporarily lose access to doses if they knowingly vaccinate someone who neither works nor lives here. Social media groups have filled with chatter about these trips to Alabama, Tennessee and other states now vaccinating teachers. (Tagami, 3/1)
Health News Florida: Many Turned Away From Jax Vaccine Site Due To Registration Website Error
Several people who made appointments to get the COVID-19 vaccine at the new Edward Waters College community site in Jacksonville on Friday morning were turned away because they had been allowed to preregister even though they didn’t meet the qualifications. (McLean, 3/1)
Salt Lake Tribune: A Flaw By State Employees Allowed 7,200 Unqualified Utahns To Sign Up For COVID-19 Vaccines
The glitch that allowed 7,200 Utahns who did not qualify for COVID-19 vaccine to make appointments over the weekend was caused by a mistake in the website design created by state Department of Technology Services employees, a DTS spokeswoman said Monday. That flaw gave credence to rumors that began circulating Friday that the state was having trouble filling appointments and expanding access, as the website allowed people to register despite their admissions that they did not have the required health conditions or weren’t old enough to meet current criteria. (Jacobs and Pierce, 3/1)
In other updates on the rollout —
CNBC: Florida Gov. DeSantis Accused Of Favoritism In Distributing Covid Vaccine
Florida’s agriculture commissioner on Monday called for a congressional investigation into Gov. Ron DeSantis over “alleged political favoritism” in his state’s distribution of Covid-19 vaccine doses. (Feuer, 3/1)
Health News Florida: Broward Health Offers Vaccine To 18-And-Older At-Risk Patients
Broward Health has begun offering the COVID-19 vaccine to at-risk people 18 and over, the only hospital in South Florida to publicly expand vaccine eligibility to this younger group with certain medical conditions. On Friday, the health system began accepting appointments for this new group of people, but it quickly filled up, Broward Health Spokeswoman Jennifer Smith said. There is no timeframe for when new appointments will open again, but next week is a possibility. (3/1)
The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Convention Center Mass COVID Vaccine Site To Prioritize Vulnerable City Residents Amid Criticism Of Inequity
Amid criticism of inequitable access to Maryland’s limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines, the state’s mass vaccination clinic at the Baltimore Convention Center will prioritize people from underserved areas of the city, officials announced Monday. (Campbell and Ruiz, 3/1)
Stateline: States Fail To Prioritize Homeless People For Vaccines
Frank Galloway falls into the most vulnerable categories for COVID-19: He is 87, he is Black, and he is experiencing homelessness. “It ain’t no joke,” Galloway said of the coronavirus, which has killed some of his friends in Greensboro, North Carolina. “I don't mind taking something that will help my life to keep going.” He’s waiting for a vaccine while staying in an emergency shelter. Although the state began vaccinating people age 65 and up in mid-January, Galloway, like many others without housing, doesn’t have access to the technology and transportation that people in many places need to get a shot. (Van Ness, 3/1)
Philadelphia Inquirer: Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium's Philadelphia Coronavirus Vaccine Clinics Now Walk-Up
In an effort to expand access and equitable distribution of the coronavirus vaccine, starting Monday the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium will offer walk-up vaccinations for qualified Philadelphians at all of its clinics. On a first-come first-serve basis, Philadelphians who are age 75 and older, or who qualify under the city’s 1B vaccination category and live in zip codes identified by the organization as “hardest hit” by the coronavirus, can visit the consortium’s sites. (Rushing, 3/1)
NBC News: Blacks And Hispanics Are Being Short-Changed On Covid-19 Vaccines In Florida And Elsewhere
Not long after Florida began its rollout of the coronavirus vaccines, Black leaders and others began raising alarms that the first doses were finding their way into the arms of mostly white senior citizens who supported Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, while their hard-hit communities were left in the cold. Now some numbers appear to support those suspicions. Of the 34 states that shared vaccination data by race and ethnicity, Florida ranks near the bottom in the rate at which Black residents have been inoculated even as the community has suffered a disproportionate share of Covid-19 deaths, concluded Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida. (Siemaszko, 3/1)
