Vulnerable Groups Frustrated By Ongoing Lack Of Access To Shots
Months into the rollout, people with high-risk conditions, like cancer patients, or frequent virus exposure, like grocery workers, are still waiting to find out when they can get vaccinated.
USA Today:
Cancer Patients Frustrated As They Continue To Wait For Vaccine
The American Association for Cancer Research released a letter Wednesday signedby 130 organizations, cancer centers and institutions to the Biden administration and state leaders to raise awareness about the importance of cancer patients and survivors receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. A December study published in JAMA Oncology found cancer patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were more likely to require hospitalization than people without cancer. More than 47% of cancer patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized versus 24% of COVID-19 patients without cancer. The study also showed about 15% of patients with cancer died from COVID-19 compared to 5% of non-cancer patients. (Rodriguez, 2/24)
The CT Mirror:
Grocery Store Workers ‘Disgusted’ With Lamont's New COVID-19 Vaccine Policy
Unions representing thousands of grocery store workers vented their frustration Monday night with Gov. Ned Lamont’s decision not to prioritize the group in the next wave of coronavirus vaccinations. “We’re disgusted, we’re frustrated,” said Mark Espinosa, president of Local 919 of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents about 7,000 Stop & Shop grocery chain employees in Connecticut. “They are front line employees. They are essential. Let’s face it, if they’re not in the stores, people are not eating.” (Phaneuf, 2/23)
From the states —
Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Nevada Vaccine Allotment Still Very Low In State Comparison
Nevada health officials are still awaiting answers about why the state has one of the nation’s lowest COVID-19 vaccine allocations from the federal government. As of this week, the state remained ranked among the bottom 10 states in terms of vaccine allocation per capita. It had received about 21,070 first doses per 100,000 adult residents. Since late January, the state has sought the formula that federal officials use to determine how many more vaccine doses each state can order each week. It has yet to be provided, Nevada COVID-19 response director Caleb Cage said during a news briefing Monday. (Scott Davidson, 2/23)
AP:
Tennessee Probe Finds Wasted Vaccines
More than 2,400 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in Tennessee’s most populous county went to waste over the past month while local officials sat on tens of thousands of shots that they thought had already gone into arms, the state’s top health official announced Tuesday. The finding comes after the Department of Health launched an investigation over the weekend into a report that recent winter storms caused 1,000 doses to be tossed in Shelby County, which encompasses Memphis. (2/23)
Roll Call:
Vaccine Sign-Up Struggles Highlight State And Federal Challenges
The Biden administration’s new programs to get COVID-19 vaccines to pharmacies, long-term care centers and other sites are meant to ease state vaccine distribution — but in some cases they are having the opposite effect, and states are calling for more coordination. (Cohen, 2/24)
The Baltimore Sun:
Maryland Plan To Create Sign-Up Portal And Waitlist For State COVID-19 Vaccine Sites Draws Criticism
Two months into the effort to vaccinate the public against COVID-19, the administration of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan reversed course and said it would launch an official, though limited, waitlist to ease the frustrating hunt for scarce doses. (Cohn and Wood, 2/24)
Also —
Stateline:
Bills To Block Mandatory Worker Vaccines Falter In The States
Lawmakers in at least 23 states, often encouraged by vaccine skeptics, have proposed banning employers from requiring workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or other infectious diseases. Most bills are sponsored by Republicans, who say employees shouldn’t have to choose between getting a shot and staying employed. “I just kind of like the idea of personal freedom, and that’s one of my biggest things as a legislator,” said Republican state Sen. Dennis Kruse, who sponsored one such bill in Indiana. Although vaccines protect individuals and communities from disease outbreaks, online disinformation has turbocharged some people’s concerns about vaccine safety and potential mandates in recent years. Some anti-vaccine activists have spread false information about the science and public policy surrounding immunizations. (Quinton, 2/23)
